A fiduciary duty entails trust and confidence and requires that fiduciaries act honestly, in good faith, and strictly in the best interest of the client in an exemplary manner. These special relationships include, a company director having a fiduciary duty towards the interest of the company and its shareholders, an attorney having a fiduciary duty towards a client, a physician having a fiduciary duty towards a patient, a trustee having a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries of the trust and more.
In Ontario, there is an established mechanism for determining whether a fiduciary obligation arises from a relationship. A fiduciary duty arises whenever a client places trust, confidence and reliance on the fiduciary to exercise his or her discretion or expertise in acting for the client. A fiduciary must knowingly accept the trust and confidence of the client to exercise his or her expertise and discretion to act on behalf of that client. In the event the preceding condition is fulfilled, a fiduciary duty arises.
In the case of financial advisers, the banking industry regulatory framework address some issues. The fiduciary duty of financial advisers may have some complexity and it is important for the clients who believe that there may be some harm caused to check with a lawyer if there is any ground for redress.
The client is entitled to the best efforts of a fiduciary on his behalf and the fiduciary must exercise all of the skill, care and diligence at his/her disposal when acting on behalf of the client. The fiduciary must not obtain a personal benefit at the expense of the client. A breach of fiduciary arises when the fiduciary acts in any manner that undermines the trust placed upon him.
The existence of a fiduciary duty in a given circumstance would depend upon the reasonable expectations of the parties in relation to factors such as complexity of the subject matter, reliance, discretion, trust, vulnerability, confidence and existing practices of community and industry standards.
An experienced and qualified lawyer can determine if a breach has occurred in any given case and help represent a client in making sure the interests of the client is served. SBMB Law is highly experienced in dealing with issues arising out of a breach of fiduciary duties. Call 905-884-9242 today if you or a loved one are in need of a Richmond Hill lawyer to deal with breach of fiduciary duties.