Enter to open, tab to navigate, enter to select
Fiduciary duties
Practical Law UK Glossary 1-107-5744 (Approx. 6 pages)
Glossary
Fiduciary duties
The duties, pre-eminently a duty of loyalty, owed by a fiduciary to the other person in the fiduciary relationship, for example, by a trustee to the beneficiaries of a trust; by an agent to the agent's principal; by a company director to the company.
The scope of the duties owed in any given case ultimately depends on the nature of the relationship. Essentially however, as Leggatt LJ (sitting at first instance) explained in Al Nehayan v Kent [2018] EWHC 333 (Comm):
- Loyalty means being guided solely by the interests of the other person and not by any consideration of the fiduciary's own interests.
- Fiduciaries are required to act openly and honestly, and must not (without the informed consent of the other person) place themselves in a position where their own interests or their duty to another party may conflict with their duty to pursue the other person's interests.
- Fiduciaries are liable to account for any unauthorised profit they obtain as a result of their position.
For more information, see Practice note, Fiduciary duties.