In this month's legal updates, experts at law firm Gateley plc consider fiduciary duties at charitable company, English parent company not liable for overseas subsidiary, revised Corporate Governance Code
Fiduciary duties at charitable company
A recent case confirmed that members of a charitable company do have fiduciary duties to act in the best interests of the charity. In Lehtimäki v Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (UK) and Ors [2018] EWCA Civ 1605, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), a charity founded by then husband and wife Sir Christopher Hohn and Ms Jamie Cooper (the founders), sought approval of CIFF when making a grant to a new charity, Big Win Philanthropy (BWP).
CIFF was established as a charitable company limited by guarantee by the founders, who were married at the time. However, the marriage broke down and, following their divorce, they both remained trustees of CIFF, a situation that resulted in problems with the effective running and management of the charity.
