Reconsidering the relationship between undisclosed agency and assignment

Abstract In Siu Yin Kwan v Eastern Insurance, Lord Lloyd addressed the question of whether assignment can appropriately be analogised with undisclosed agency. His Lordship considered it could not. Although scholars have impliedly (and correctly) identified that this is true as regards statutory assignment, there are compelling parallels between undisclosed agency and equitable assignment that merit further attention. This article inquires into the accuracy of Lord Lloyd’s dictum in relation to equitable assignment, seeking to identify a possible model to conceptualise the flow of rights arising between an undisclosed principal and a third party in undisclosed agency relationships.