← All Authorities
Australia Leading Case guarantees and indemnitiesundue influence

Yerkey v Jones

(1940) 63 CLR 649
JurisdictionAustralia
CourtHigh Court of Australia
Year1940
StatusBinding authority

Summary

A wife who provides a guarantee without understanding its nature has a special equity to be relieved of it if the creditor failed to ensure her informed consent.

Key Principle

Special equity of wives in guarantee cases; surety transactions; bank must ensure wife understands nature and effect of transaction; precursor to Garcia

Area of Law

banking

Related Cases

Westpac Banking Corporation v Lenthall (2019) 272 CLR 1

A bank owes a duty of care to guarantors to take reasonable steps to ensure they understand the nature and effect of the guarantee under the Code of Banking Practice.

AUSTRAC v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2018] FCA 930

CBA liable for systemic AML/CTF Act contraventions including failure to report suspicious matters and threshold transactions via intelligent deposit machines, resulting in $700 million civil penalty.

Paciocco v ANZ Banking Group Ltd (Full Federal Court) (2015) 236 FCR 199

Full Federal Court held that bank late payment fees were not penalties or unconscionable under consumer protection law as they bore a genuine pre-estimate of loss or legitimate commercial interest.

Ask CommonBench about this case

Get a detailed analysis of Yerkey v Jones and how it applies to your situation.

Explain Yerkey v Jones