Piercing the Corporate Veil - in England and Singapore

Stephen Noel Henry BULL, Singapore Management University

Abstract

THE legal personality accorded by statute to a company, as distinct from THE persons of its members, is probably THE most fundamental principle of company law and forms a key building-block of our economic and legal structure. However THE principle is not entirely an absolute one: THE courts have on occasion asserted their power to disregard that separate personality in order to treat THE company as one with its controller. But THE rationale and scope of this power have only rarely been articulated in THE higher courts. This article focuses on recent judicial analyses of PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL in England, and compares THE latest approach of THE Singapore courts to THE same question.