The phenomenon of trust in the contractual regulation of corporate relations

The article is devoted to the study of such a unique phenomenon in corporate relations as trust. The author argues that the primary task in business relations is the intention of the parties to make the relationship trust-based through an agreement, to consolidate efforts, and to model jointly the relations with other shareholders (participants) of a corporation who are not parties to such an agreement, and with the company itself, that corresponds to the essence of corporate entrepreneurship. The article examines the approaches to the definition of fiduciary duty in the practice of courts in common law countries. The author focuses on the fact that in the countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal family of common law, both the legislator and the court as a law enforcement body systematically and consistently adhere to the position of not defining or even singling out qualifying features and describing fiduciary relations. The author substantiates that the recent attempt of the national legislator to enshrine the concept of fiduciary duty in the legislation on improvement of corporate governance through the same evaluation categories (good, fair and effective governance) does not contribute to legal certainty, but will have the opposite effect - it will give rise to corporate disputes and lack of uniformity in practice when resolving them by a court. It is argued that a corporate agreement forms the solidarity nature of relations between the parties to such an agreement. The author examines the understanding of the category of «trust» in economic science, its vision by leading foreign and domestic economists as a factor influencing investment inflows, efficiency of a business entity and the country’s economy as a whole. The article gives reasons why it is inexpedient to understand, in particular, a limited liability company exclusively as a capital association. The author analyses trends in the business environment regarding the role of trust in business development and crisis management. Based on the study, it has been concluded that a corporation is interested in ensuring the stability of its shareholders, preserving personal trust (fiduciary) relations between the shareholders, and the regulation of relations between them may be determined, among other things, by a corporate agreement. It is concluded that trust is a constitutive element of a corporate agreement which forms the solidarity character of relations between its parties.