New Trends in Piercing the Corporate Veil… – (The conservative versus the liberal approaches)
Salomon v A Salomon established a century-old principle of the separate juristic personality of a corporation (the corporate veil). It provides a method of limitation of liability, protects shareholders’ private assets and facilitates business development. Cases have shown, however, that the corporate veil may be mis-used by the controllers of the corporate structure to perpetrate wrongdoing.
- Fraud apart, how far does the law go to protect parties, who deal with the corporation, when they suffer loss by reason of wrongdoing of its controllers?
- What type of wrongdoing would suffice to pierce the corporate veil?
- Would the requirement of justice be an imperative?
- If it is appropriate to pierce the veil, would the controllers become parties to a particular contract between the corporate and the person who pursues enforcement of that contract?
Such questions were dealt with by the English courts, including the Supreme Court, in recent cases (Petrodel v Prest and VTB Capital v Nutritek).
Chaired by The Rt. Hon.The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, the seminar explored the above questions and dealt with the following aspects:
1. Basic principles – the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil – an overview
2. The scope and limits of the doctrine under English law – Petrodel v Prest
3. What happened to A. Gramsci cases? – VTB Capital v Nutritek
4. The extent and scope of the doctrine under the law of some other jurisdictions
Panellists were:
Dr Aleka Sheppard – Arbitrator / Chairman, LSLC-Maritime Business Forum
Simon Rainey QC – Quadrant Chambers
Robert Thomas QC – Quadrant Chambers
George A Gaitas – Chalos & Co. P.C. (Houston)
Stephanie Schweitzer – Holman Fenwick Willan (Paris)
The seminar took place at Quadrant Chambers in Fleet Street, London and was attended by a great number of delegates; a nice reception followed with intense networking in a pre-festive Christmas atmosphere.
Viewers can read the panellists presentations herebelow:
Presentation Simon Rainey QC and Robert Thomas QC
HFW presentation LSCL 3 12 2013 and
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