UK Supreme Court Confirms Knowing Receipt Test

Trustees live in the knowledge that they will be held to account for breaches of trust, unless (possibly) such breaches qualify as "judicious" breaches of trust.

The UKSC - looking into the point of liability for knowing receipt in equity - has ruled that a claim in knowing receipt cannot succeed if the claimant no longer has an equitable interest in the misappropriated property. The case, Byers and others v Saudi National Bank [2023] UKSC 51, brings certainty to this aspect of knowing receipt claims and provides authority from the highest court level on deep fiduciary principles which is vital reading for practitioners across the legal and fiduciary industry.

We discussed claims for dishonest assistance and knowing receipt in our guide to secondary liability. We illustrated how claims in knowing receipt operate using the Byers case, on which the UKSC has now ruled, upholding the position arising out of the lower courts' decisions.