Originally from International Arbitration Court Decisions - 3rd Edition

JUDGMENT BY THE SVEA COURT OF APPEAL RENDERED IN 2000 IN CASE 8090-99

Subject Matter:
Whether an award was based on matters not submitted by the parties to the arbitrators.

Finding:
The arbitral tribunal’s reasons constituted a legal qualification of the circumstances invoked by a party in the course of the proceedings, and not a matter which had not been submitted by the parties to the arbitrators.

Parties:
Claimant: Rolf Gustafsson (Sweden)
Respondent: Länsförsäkringar Bergslagen-Wasa ömsesidigt (Sweden)
Place of Court Proceedings:
Sweden

Applicable Law:
The Swedish Arbitration Act of 1929
Excerpts below are an unofficial translation of the proceedings in the Västerås
District Court and the Svea Court of Appeal.

Summary
In August 1990, Länsförsäkringar Bergslagen-Wasa ömsesidigt (”Länsförsäkringar”) – an insurance company – entered into a consortium agreement with five other parties for the purpose of investing in the Swedish company PKD. The initiative for the investment came from Rolf Gustafsson, who was one of the other five investors.

Rolf Gustafsson had earlier instructed a Swedish bank to draw up an investment memorandum for the purpose of presenting PKD for potential investors. The final version of the memorandum was dated August 1990 (“the Memorandum”). The information put together by the bank in the Memorandum had been submitted to the bank by Rolf Gustafsson. The bank stated to potential investors that it did not assume any liability for the information contained in the Memorandum. Based on the information in the Memorandum, Länsförsäkringar decided to invest in PKD, i.e. to enter into a consortium agreement with the other five parties who also had decided to invest in PKD.