Disturbing corporate personality to remedy a fraudulent incorporation: an analysis of the piercing principle

Abstract

Following two recent decisions of the Supreme Court it has been confirmed that the ability to disturb corporate personality by piercing the corporate veil is as an established principle but one that should be used only as a tool of last resort. In  ractice the deployment of this ‘piercing principle’ will be a rarity to the point of near extinction. This paper will contend, however, that the Supreme Court’s endorsement of a limited piercing principle does not address fully the commercial necessity of disturbing the corporate personality of companies incorporated to pursue a fraudulent activity; further, that this lacuna could have been averted had the Supreme Court identified a related but broader ‘piercing concept’ which is established
impliedly in the case law.