The Charity Commission for England and Wales v Framjee & ors [2014] EWHC 2507 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2014 #144

The Dove Trust (the trust) was established by a declaration of trust dated 16 June 1983 for such charitable purposes as the trustees should in their discretion from time to time think fit. It was subsequently registered as a charity.

In 2004 a website for charitable giving called www.charitygiving.co.uk (the website) was established for the purpose of facilitating members of the public to make donations to the trust for the benefit of other charities or good causes of their choice. Donations which were charitable could then be augmented by gift aid, which the trust would claim sub...

Trusts: In the commercial sphere

Jason Nickless describes how trusts were applied to resolve the dispute in Wise v Jimenez [2013] ‘Mr Jimenez gave a number of different accounts as to precisely how [the] moneys had been invested. After analysing the evidence, the court was satisfied that the purpose behind the investment of the moneys had not been fulfilled’. On …
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Wise v Jimenez & anr HC12CO0367

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | January/February 2014 #136

In 2007 the defendant Mr Jimenez (J) became involved in the development of a golf course in France and gathered together a number of investors including the claimant Mr Wise (W), then a close friend of his, who provided £500,000 to invest in the project. The money was procured by means of a loan from Coutts and Co of £350,000 together with funds from two other accounts held by W. It was transferred to the account of a dormant company, the second defendant, CD Investments Ltd (CDI) set up by W and now in liquidation, and hence to an account with HiFX in J’s name in the form of €...

Patel v Mirza [2013] EWHC 1892 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2013 #135

The claimant (Mr Patel) became friends with Mr Georgiou in 2004. Mr Patel was introduced to the defendant (Mr Mirza) at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009 by Mr Georgiou, probably at one of the poker games Mr Georgiou hosted every Friday evening.

Mr Mirza was and is employed as a foreign exchange broker and also had a personal spread-betting account.

In August 2009 Mr Patel stated that he was approached by Mr Georgiou with a deal he had been offered by Mr Mirza – Mr Mirza would use his spread-betting account to bet on the movement of RBS shares and that Mr Mirza knew ...

Client Monies: Ascertaining the money trail

Laura John sets out the lessons to be learned from Challinor v Bellis on handling the client account ‘An escrow arrangement is dependant on an enforceable contract or undertaking not to treat the funds transferred by X as the property of Y unless and until the escrow event or condition is satisfied.’This article considers the …
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Quistclose Trusts: Clear segregation

Lynsey Oakdene and Camilla Dalzell discuss the definition of a Quistclose trust and the circumstances in which a court will find that one exists, following Tuthill ‘A Quistclose trust arises in circumstances where a transferor transfers money to another with the intention that the money is to be used for a specific and exclusive purpose.’ …
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Gabriel v Little & ors [2012] EWHC 1193 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2013 #128

The claimant (Mr Gabriel) and the first defendant (Mr Little) were businessmen and erstwhile friends who had previously collaborated in respect to a project known as Southgate street development in Gloucester. The third defendant (High Tech), the entire share capital of which was owned by Mr Little, was the building contractor. The fourth defendant (BPE), a firm of solicitors engaged by Mr Gabriel, drafted a facility letter recording the terms upon which Mr Gabriel was prepared to make a contribution by way of loan to the cost of the development. In the event, Mr Gabriel was unable to ob...

Quistclose Trusts: Beware of importing principles of equity into commercial law

Jehan-Philippe Wood analyses Bieber v Teathers, which sheds new light on how a Quistclose trust is defined in the context of partnerships It is one thing to accept that a trust can exist alongside a contractual arrangement. It is quite another to try to reconcile competing arrangements. A Quistclose trust (the name derives from Barclays …
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Bieber & ors v Teathers Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1466

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | January/February 2013 #126

The defendant (Teathers) promoted a series of unregulated collective investment schemes intended to take advantage of tax reliefs available on investments in TV productions. UK tax payers were entitled to write down 100% of any expenditure on a film or TV production certified as a British Qualifying Film. The schemes had not proved successful. Many of the productions were commercial failures and a number of them had not been certified as British Qualifying Films and were illegible for the tax relief that was the rationale behind the schemes. The claimants argued that money invested in th...

Spread Trustee Company Ltd v Hutcheson & ors [2011] UKPC 13

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2012 #117

Privy Council (Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke and Sir Robin Auld)

The respondents made claims for breach of trust against the appellant in respect of breaches that occurred in Guernsey at a time when Guernsey customary law governed the duties of Guernsey trustees and also after the introduction of the Trusts (Guernsey) Law 1989 (the 1989 Law), but before that law was amended by the Trusts (Amendment) (Guernsey) Law 1990 (the 1990 Law). The trust instrument included an exoneration clause in respect of negligence by the trustee and ...