Interessenkonflikte im deutschen und englischen Vertretungsrecht

An agent may not put himself in a position or enter into a transaction in which his personal interest, or his duty to another principal, may conflict with his duty to his principal, unless his principal, with full knowledge of all the material circumstances and of the nature and extent of the agent's interests, consents. This rule against self-dealing, multiple agency and other breaches of fiduciary duty by the agent applies, one way or the other, throughout all European jurisdictions. Proposals for unification of the law can be found in the Principles of European Contract Law, drawn up by the so-called »Lando Commission« and in the Principles of International Commercial Contracts, developed by the UNIDROIT. However, German and English agency laws are paradigms for different approaches to dealing with the issue. In a comparison between German and English law, Stephan Festner elaborates on these approaches.