信托违约中第三人责任标准的经济分析

The Economic Analysis of Third Party Liability for Participating in a Breach of Trust

美国在早期普通法时代对信托违约中的第三人采取了严格责任标准,与受托人进行交易的第三人因而背负了广泛的调查义务。而到了商业时代,美国转而采用了“明知”责任标准,豁免了第三人的全部调查义务。美国的这一转变有其背后深刻的社会基础,同时也符合成本收益原则。我国信托法律制度及法律实践与美国有重大不同,美国当今采用的“明知”责任标准未必适用于我国。我国应当采取“明知或应知”的责任标准,向第三人施加有限的调查义务,而这可以从经济分分析的角度加以证明。

In the traditional common law era, the United States has adopted strict liability standards for the third party in breach of trust, and the third party who deals with the trustee bears broad duty to inquire. While in the commercial era, the United States adopted the "actual knowledge" liability standard instead, exempting the third party from duty to inquire. This change has its solid social foundation and is correspond with the principle of cost-benefit. China's trust legal system and practice are quite different from those of the United States. The standard of "actual knowledge" liability adopted by the United States today may not be applicable to China. Our country should adopt the responsibility standard of " actual knowledge or should know" to impose limited duty to inquire on the third party, which can be proved by the economic analysis.