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| In 1990 an Italian seller and a German buyer concluded contracts for the sale of wine. The seller assigned his right to payment arising from the contracts to an Italian company (assignee). The buyer did not pay and the assignee commenced an action to recover the price in German currency.
The Court interpreted Arts. 53 and 54 CISG to indicate that the parties may provide by agreement the currency of payment. Absent contrary agreement, the price must be paid in the currency of the place of payment. In this case, the Court found that the parties had agreed to payment in Italian currency, because the seller's invoices indicated prices in Lire. The Court observed that the result would have been the same even if no such agreement had been reached, as the place of payment of the price was Italy (place of business of the seller, Art. 57(1)(a) CISG). The Court held that since CISG does not contain any rule on agency (Art. 4 CISG), Italian law was applicable to the agency issues relating to the assignment of the contract price. The assignee was entitled to the payment of the price in Italian currency (Art. 53 CISG). In addition, the Court granted the assignee the right to interest, at the interest rate of the creditor's country, Italy (Art. 78 CISG). The Court held that the right to interest is not subordinate to a formal request by the seller. |