Equity and the Law of Trusts

Equity and the Law of Trusts                    

Paper due on 15 November, 2019

Instructions:          Answer the question(s) set out below.

Word Limit:            3,000 words, excluding footnotes, bibliography and other items listed in rule 6.71 of the Academic Regulations:

Written assignments must not exceed the specified maximum number of words.  When a written assignment is marked, the excessive use of words beyond the word limit is reflected in the academic judgement of the piece of work which results in a lower mark being awarded for the piece of work (regulation 6.70).

Submission Date:    This assignment must be submitted via Turnitin GradeMark (see module guide on VLE for further information) by no later than 12midnight on  15th    Nov 2019

Referencing:            Work must be properly referenced (see Academic Honesty Policy above) and MUST use the OSCOLA system and include a bibliography.  For further guidance on OSCOLA see: 

ASSESSMENT QUESTION

QTC Hotels Ltd is seeking to expand its international chain of hotels and is looking to purchase a hotel in Brazil for £15m from Rio de Janeiro Hotels SA. Given the complexity of buying property abroad QTC Hotels was assisted in the purchase by Brazilian Investment Advice Ltd (BIA). BIA acted as both an intermediary and consultant. However, unknown to QTC, BIA had a secret arrangement with Rio de Janeiro Hotels to the effect that the latter would pay BIA £1.5m as a result of selling the hotel.

QTC has subsequently discovered the payment of the secret commission and seeks to recover the £1.5m. However, on receipt of the money BIA invested it into two separate ventures. The first, Brazilian Rubber Industries SA failed and the whole £800,000 investment was lost. The second, was considerably more successful and the £700,000 initial investment into Sao Paulo Industries SA is now worth £2.1m.

You are instructed to advise the company secretary of QTC Hotels on what basis, if any, they might make a claim against BIA.