The Latent Uncertainties and Difficulties Surrounding Knowing Receipt

This article examines the Court of Appeal's judgment in Byers v Saudi National Bank. It argues that there are two different understandings of the relationship between a beneficiary's equitable interest and the relevant trust, and that both are compatible with the Court of Appeal's account of liability for knowing receipt of trust assets; it is submitted that the Court of Appeal's treatment of authorities is anomalous, regardless of one's theoretical stance on the nature of beneficial interest. The article also analyses the two principal requirements set out by the Court of Appeal for a successful claim in knowing receipt - a continuing proprietary interest and unconscionability of retention - and notes some troublesome practical implications of the law laid down. Finally, it reflects on why the Court of Appeal would affirm such inconvenient rules, especially when its handling of case law is so irregular. The article concludes that Byers is the result of a broader trend of acritical reliance, on part of courts, on the concept of the trust.