Overview of Fiduciary Duties and Remedies for Breach
Fiduciary law is usually introduced through its duties: the no-conflict rule and the no-profit rule. Yet the distinctive character of fiduciary doctrine in English law lies less in these duties themselves than in the remedies that equity deploys when they are breached. Those remedies are often unusually strict. Courts may strip away gains through an account of profits, recognise proprietary rights via constructive trusts, undo transactions through rescission, or restore losses through equitable compensation. The severity of these remedies reflects a central concern running throughout fiduciary doctrine: those who undertake fiduciary responsibilities must act with what the courts have repeatedly described as “single-minded loyalty.” Equity’s remedial framework is designed to enforce that obligation and to deter fiduciaries from placing their own interests ahead of those whom they serve. Understanding fiduciary law therefore requires looking not only at the duties imposed on f...
