Summary

Already since the emergence of supra-national trade, merchants and trading companies have made use of so-called Faktoren (factors) to establish and expand their business networks. The increasing differentiation of the factor activity was first taken into account by the case law and commercial expert opinions, so-called pareres, which were subsequently received and finally led to the commercial codifications by constituting their own legal figures for dependent and independent action, in particular the assistants, the power of attorney and the commission. As part of this consolidation process, the special need for protection of trade and its trust in the persons appointed by the principal, who bore the risk of having used third parties for his interests, was implemented. Long before this risk distribution led to the ALR and subsequent trade laws, this fundamental trading ethos was established and further developed by merchants and lawyers alike. Only this further training and transfer to new constellations and legal figures formed the basis for the distinction between a commercial and civil law obligation of the represented person for his representative.