Debate: Does A Fiduciary Who Receives a Bribe Hold it On Trust For His Principal?

The first event of the Cambridge Private Law Centre was held on 21 May 2012, when the Centre hosted a lively and engaging debate between Lord Millett and Richard Millett QC who spoke for and against the proposition: "A fiduciary who receives a bribe holds it on trust for his principal".

The debate was prompted by the 2011 decision of the Court of Appeal in Sinclair Investments (UK) Ltd v Versailles Trade Finance Ltd, which examined the divergent approaches in Lister & Co v Stubbs(CA, 1890) (the bribe creates only a debt) and AG (Hong Kong) v Reid (PC, 1993) (the bribe is held in trust), and resolved the conflict in favour of the former approach. In Cadogan Petroleum Plc v Tolley (ChD, 2011), Richard Millett QC successfully invoked the Lister & Co v Stubbs line. Lord Millett, by contrast, wrote the key article which underpinned the analysis in AG v Reid.

The debate was followed by a reception in the Law Faculty, generously sponsored by Oxford University Press, with the formal launch of the Cambridge Private Law Centre by Lord Millett and the launch of Professor Graham Virgo's book, The Principles of Equity and Trusts, now in its 5th edition (2023).

A gallery of photographs is available from the event.

An expanded and edited version of Lord Millett’s text from the debate was published as 'Bribes and Secret Commissions Again' [2012] CLJ 583. In 2014, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom overruled Sinclair Investments in favour of the trust solution in FHR European Ventures LLP v Cedar Capital Partners LLC.