Fiduciary Duties

Produced in partnership with Keith Bruce-Smith of Sinclair Gibson LLP and Oliver Bishop of Sinclair Gibson LLP

Practice notes

Fiduciary Duties

Produced in partnership with Keith Bruce-Smith of Sinclair Gibson LLP and Oliver Bishop of Sinclair Gibson LLP

Practice notes

This Practice Note covers identifying a Fiduciary, Fiduciary duties and obligations, the no conflict rule, the no profit rule, the fiduciary’s duty of confidentiality and what remedies are available for breach of fiduciary duty.

Who is a fiduciary?

There is no comprehensive list of the relationships which give rise to the existence of fiduciary duties under Common law. Some relationships are automatically fiduciary, eg those between trustee and Beneficiary, solicitor and client, principal and agent, business partner and co-partners, mortgagor and mortgagee.

The duties of some fiduciaries have been codified, for example, the statutory duty of skill and care which is imposed upon trustees by section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000) and the relationship between company directors and the company under the Companies Act 2006. For information in relation to the fiduciary duties of directors, see Practice Note: Fiduciary duties of directors.

In Bristol and West Building Society v Mothew, Millet LJ described a fiduciary as

‘A fiduciary is someone who has undertaken to act for and on

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Fiduciary definition

What does Fiduciary mean?

A person, or entity, who acts for the benefit and on behalf of another person or group of persons. A fiduciary holds a legally enforceable position of trust.

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