A broker arranged through a finance house the leasing of cars and computers for clients. In one transaction he gave confidential information about the client and his own trade terms, including his profit margin, to the defendant which used it without authorisation to offer more attractive terms, aiming to cut out the broker from deals with the client. It was held that there was no fiduciary duty or relationship between the broker and the finance house; they were at arm’s length.
Held: The broker’s profit margin and to a lesser degree the invoice price between the defendant and the broker were items of confidential information which had been misused by the defendant to enable it to put forward another deal to the client. A receipt of confidential information of itself does not create trust giving rise to fiduciary relationship.
Judges:
Otton LJ and Owen J
Citations:
Times 14-Aug-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 2266, [1998] FSR 248
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others (No 3) CA 18-May-2005
The principal claimants sold the rights to take photographs of their wedding to a co-claimant magazine (OK). Persons acting on behalf of the defendants took unauthorised photographs which the defendants published. The claimants had retained joint . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property, Financial Services
Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.142663