Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty

This article examines the main monetary remedies for breach of fiduciary duty under Singapore law: equitable compensation and account of profits. Both areas of law are in need of clarification, though for different reasons. The law on the account of profits appears stable and uncontroversial. There...

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Main Authors: YIP, Man, GOH, Yihan
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1790
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/3742/viewcontent/navigating_the_maze.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.sol_research-37422020-03-23T01:44:51Z Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty YIP, Man GOH, Yihan This article examines the main monetary remedies for breach of fiduciary duty under Singapore law: equitable compensation and account of profits. Both areas of law are in need of clarification, though for different reasons. The law on the account of profits appears stable and uncontroversial. There has not been an opportunity for the courts to consider more fully the proper limitations on the scope of account. However, the authorities that are on point suggest that the duty to account for profits follows almost as a matter of course from breach. In particular, causation between profits and breach is seemingly irrelevant for the errant fiduciary’s liability. This article, however, cautions against an overly simplistic analysis. The law on equitable compensation for breach of fiduciary duty is, by contrast, a muddied terrain as a result of recent developments in Singapore and elsewhere. This article focuses on the role as well as operation of the causation concept in monetary remedies for breach of fiduciary duty. It suggests that a study of the account of profits and equitable compensation side by side, though unconventional, illuminates the proper questions that should be asked. By considering the fundamental tenets of the fiduciary doctrine as well as case law developments, we argue that relevant considerations for crafting appropriate remedial principles include scope of duty, deterrence, proportional consequences and good faith. How these considerations are to be prioritised and whether all of them should be taken on board may vary depending on jurisdictional prerogatives. In this article, we also highlight the structural differences in the analysis of the two remedies under current law and attempt to rationalise the differences. 2016-10-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1790 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/3742/viewcontent/navigating_the_maze.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Asian Studies Legal Remedies
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Asian Studies
Legal Remedies
spellingShingle Asian Studies
Legal Remedies
YIP, Man
GOH, Yihan
Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
description This article examines the main monetary remedies for breach of fiduciary duty under Singapore law: equitable compensation and account of profits. Both areas of law are in need of clarification, though for different reasons. The law on the account of profits appears stable and uncontroversial. There has not been an opportunity for the courts to consider more fully the proper limitations on the scope of account. However, the authorities that are on point suggest that the duty to account for profits follows almost as a matter of course from breach. In particular, causation between profits and breach is seemingly irrelevant for the errant fiduciary’s liability. This article, however, cautions against an overly simplistic analysis. The law on equitable compensation for breach of fiduciary duty is, by contrast, a muddied terrain as a result of recent developments in Singapore and elsewhere. This article focuses on the role as well as operation of the causation concept in monetary remedies for breach of fiduciary duty. It suggests that a study of the account of profits and equitable compensation side by side, though unconventional, illuminates the proper questions that should be asked. By considering the fundamental tenets of the fiduciary doctrine as well as case law developments, we argue that relevant considerations for crafting appropriate remedial principles include scope of duty, deterrence, proportional consequences and good faith. How these considerations are to be prioritised and whether all of them should be taken on board may vary depending on jurisdictional prerogatives. In this article, we also highlight the structural differences in the analysis of the two remedies under current law and attempt to rationalise the differences.
format text
author YIP, Man
GOH, Yihan
author_facet YIP, Man
GOH, Yihan
author_sort YIP, Man
title Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
title_short Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
title_full Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
title_fullStr Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
title_full_unstemmed Navigating the maze: Making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
title_sort navigating the maze: making sense of equitable compensation and account of profits for breach of fiduciary duty
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2016
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1790
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/3742/viewcontent/navigating_the_maze.pdf
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