Legal basis for agency agreements

Minna Technologies operates as an authorised agent on behalf of the bank. This means that the bank's customer has given permission for the bank to authorise Minna, as a sub-agent, to cancel the customer’s subscription when requested via the bank’s digital channel.

In the UK, the legal basis for this type of relationship comes from existing principles of English case law (sometimes referred to as the “common law of agency”). In this context, an “agent” refers to a person or company that has the power to create, change or terminate the legal relations of another - known as the “principal”.

The relationship is established by consent - either express (e.g. by written contract) or implied (e.g. by conduct).

For our purposes, Minna obtains an explicit written contract from the principal, whereby the customer has expressly consented to the appointment of the bank as the agent and the subsequent delegation of authority to Minna Technologies as the sub-agent, in order to effect the cancellation request.

The fact that the relevant agency agreements have been executed electronically does not affect the validity of the request under English law, given that electronic signatures are to be considered as an admissible form of execution.