Proper Purposes in Trustee Decision-Making: Grand View Private Trust Co Ltd v Wen-Young Wong [2022] UKPC 47

Abstract In Grand View Private Trust Co Ltd v Wen-Young Wong [2022] UKPC 47, the Privy Council considered the proper approach to reviewing a Bermudan discretionary trustee’s exercise of a power to add and exclude objects where it was alleged that the power was exercised for an improper purpose. The Privy Council analysed the relevance to this inquiry of the trust’s overarching purpose, and considered the recently-prominent question of the existence of a so-called ‘substratum rule’. The decision is an important contribution to the ongoing conversation in the law of trusts and other fiduciaries regarding the review of powers for improper purposes.