ROCKWILLS TRUSTEE BERHAD v CIMB BANK BERHAD
Catchwords
The Plaintiff, a trust company appointed as substitute trustee under four family trust deeds, sought to recover monies from the deceased settlors' bank accounts held with the Defendant using irrevocable Powers of Attorney ("PAs") executed by the settlors. The Defendant refused, contending that the PAs were revoked upon the donors' deaths, that the Plaintiff was not a "purchaser" under section 6 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1949 ("PAA 1949"), and that grants of representation were required before any release of funds. The High Court allowed the Originating Summons, holding that the PAs remained valid and irrevocable notwithstanding the donors' deaths on two independent grounds: (i) under section 6 PAA 1949, being expressed as irrevocable and supported by valuable consideration (RM1.00); and (ii) under section 7 PAA 1949, being expressed as irrevocable for a fixed period of 80 years. The PAs also satisfied the common law test as powers coupled with an interest. The court further held that trust assets declared under a deed of trust fall outside the settlor's personal estate and are not subject to probate, rendering the demand for grants of representation legally unfounded. On banking secrecy, the PAs constituted written customer authorisation within Paragraph 1 of Schedule 11 to the Financial Services Act 2013, precluding the Defendant from relying on section 133 to refuse disclosure. The preliminary objection against consolidating the four trust matters in a single proceeding was also dismissed. Powers of Attorney Act 1949 · irrevocable power of attorney · sections 6 and 7 PAA 1949 · purchaser · valuable consideration · death of donor · power coupled with an interest · substitute trustee · trust assets · deed of trust · grants of representation · probate · joint accounts · banking secrecy · Financial Services Act 2013 · sections 133 and 134 FSA 2013 · Schedule 11 · written permission · multiplicity of proceedings
Judges (1)
Judgment
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