250
Opinion of the Court
suits being brought against innocent parties—even those having no connection to the allegedly unlawful "act or practice"—rather than against the true wrongdoer, i. e., the fiduciary that caused the plan to engage in the transaction.
But this reductio ad absurdum ignores the limiting principle explicit in § 502(a)(3): that the retrospective relief sought be "appropriate equitable relief." The common law of trusts, which offers a "starting point for analysis [of ERISA] . . . [unless] it is inconsistent with the language of the statute, its structure, or its purposes," Hughes Aircraft Co. v. Jacobson, 525 U. S. 432, 447 (1999) (internal quotation marks omitted), plainly countenances the sort of relief sought by petitioners against Salomon here. As petitioners and amicus curiae the United States observe, it has long been settled that when a trustee in breach of his fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries transfers trust property to a third person, the third person takes the property subject to the trust, unless he has purchased the property for value and without notice of the fiduciary's breach of duty. The trustee or beneficiaries may then maintain an action for restitution of the property (if not already disposed of) or disgorgement of proceeds (if already disposed of), and disgorgement of the third person's profits derived therefrom. See, e. g., Restatement (Second) of Trusts §§ 284, 291, 294, 295, 297 (1957); 4 A. Scott & W. Fratcher, Law of Trusts § 284, § 291.1, pp. 77-78, § 294.2, p. 101, § 297 (4th ed. 1989) (hereinafter Law of Trusts); 5 id., § 470, at 363; 1 D. Dobbs, Law of Remedies § 4.7(1), pp. 660-661 (2d ed. 1993); G. Bogert, Law of Trusts and Trustees § 866, pp. 95-96 (rev. 2d ed. 1995). As we long ago explained in the analogous situation of property obtained by fraud:
"Whenever the legal title to property is obtained through means or under circumstances 'which render it unconscientious for the holder of the legal title to retain and enjoy the beneficial interest, equity impresses a constructive trust on the property thus acquired in favor of
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