Piercing the corporate veil –a common pattern?

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a comparative perspective of the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil in three major jurisdictions: Germany, the United States, and England in the light of the appropriate legal rules and recent case law. The concept of piercing the veil is still undeveloped in Poland, yet it has already drawn some attention from both the judiciary and legal scholars. It will be argued that despite the fact that the three aforementioned jurisdictions belong to different legal traditions, both the cases in which courts decided to pierce the veil and the nature of veil-piercing are similar among the jurisdictions. However, the study shows growing hostility to the doctrine, especially in continental jurisdictions. The arguments for restricting the scope of veil-piercing formulated under the laws of Germany, United States, and England should be taken into consideration in Polish jurisprudence as well.