Analysis
The claimant was the administrator of the estate of Mr Mansouri who died in 2010. He sought declarations that the two defendant companies, ACP and ACM, were the agents and fiduciaries of the deceased and that they were therefore under a duty to provide him with records in relation to transactions or other business conducted on behalf of the deceased. The deceased had been a wealthy man during his lifetime and the claimant sought to understand what had happened to his wealth.
Held:
- 1) The relationship between principal and agent can only be established by the consent of the principal and the agent. They will be held to have consented if they have agreed to what amounts in law to such a relationship (UBS AG (London Branch) and Ors v Kommunale Wasserwerke Leipzig GmbH [2014] EWHC 3615 (Comm) considered).
- 2) ACP and ACM were the agents of the deceased in relation to the management of the assets forming the investments which are in issue in these proceedings.
- 3) ACM and ACP undertook investments on behalf of the deceased, and made payments for and on behalf of the deceased. These circumstances give rise to the requisite relationship of trust and confidence on which a fiduciary relationship is founded.
- 4) It is plain that the law recognises a duty on the part of ACP and ACM to account and provide records in relation to assets of the deceased where their position as agent or fiduciary extended to those assets.
- 5) The relationship did not terminate during the deceased’s lifetime, and in any event, the duty to provide documents relation to the affairs of the principal survives termination of the agency (Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co of Europe Ltd v Orion Marine Insurance Underwriting Agency Ltd and Another [1995] QB 174 considered).
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