Supreme Court Clarifies The Quincecare Duty On Financial Institutions Executing Customer Payments

• Published date: 18 July 2023
• Subject Matter: Finance and Banking, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Criminal Law, Financial Services, Court Procedure, White Collar Crime, Anti-Corruption & Fraud
• Law Firm: Herbert Smith Freehills
• Author: Herbert Smith Freehills

The Supreme Court this week handed down its seminal judgment in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc [2023] UKSC 25, considering the application of the so-called Quincecare duty to the victim of an "authorised push payment" fraud (in which the victim is induced to authorise their bank to send a payment to a bank account controlled by the fraudster).

The decision establishes that a bank's duty to act with reasonable skill and care when processing customer payments is limited and applies only to "interpreting, ascertaining, and acting in accordance with the instructions" of the customer. The so-called Quincecare duty is simply an application of this general duty and arises specifically where an agent of the customer purports to give a payment...