Corporate Veil

A corporation is a separate legal entity that possesses distinctive liabilities and privileges than that of their members or shareholders. As an investor, a corporation’s advantage is liability for their own investments especially in risky investments (Kubasek, et al., 2012, p. 760). Among the various types of corporations for Betty to select from, an S corporation is an enticing venture for new entrepreneurs given that it grants limited personal liability for debts, sharing of corporate profits, and taxation relief. Double taxation is a main disadvantage of C corporations but not for S corporations. The General Corporation Law (Corp C §§100-2319) treats S corporations similarly to partnerships for taxation purposes.

671 [2d Dept. 2010], internal citations omitted). "Additionally, the corporate veil will be pierced to achieve equity, even absent fraud, [w]hen a corporation has been so dominated by an individual or another corporation and its separate entity so ignored that it primarily transacts the dominator 's business instead of its own and can be called the other 's alter ego '" (Id. at 671-672, internal citations omitted). "[A] party seeking to pierce the corporate veil must establish that (1) the owners exercised complete domination of the corporation in respect to the transaction attacked; and (2) that such domination was used to commit a fraud or wrong against the plaintiff which resulted in the plaintiff 's injury" (Superior Transcribing Serv., LLC v Paul, 72 AD3d 675, 676 [2d Dept. 2010], internal citations omitted).

This essay will explain the concepts of separate personality and limited liability and their significance in company law. The principle of separate personality is defined in the Companies Act 2006(CA) ; “subscribers to the memorandum, together with such other persons as may from time to time become members of the company are a body corporate by the name contained in memorandum.” This essentially means that a company is a separate legal personality to its members and therefore can itself be sued and enter into contracts. This theory was birthed into company law through the case of Salomon v Salomon and Co LTD 1872. This case involved a company entering liquidation and the unsecured creditors not being able to claim assets to compensate them. The issue in this case was whether Mr Salomon owed the money or the company did. In the end, the House of Lords held that the company was not an agent of Mr Salomon and so the debts were that of the company thus creating the “corporate Veil” .

Although courts are reluctant to hold an active shareholder liable for actions that are legally the responsibility of the corporation, even if the corporation has a single shareholder, they will often do so if the corporation was markedly noncompliant, or if holding only the corporation liable would be singularly unfair to the plaintiff. The ruling is based on common law precedents. In the US, different theories, most important "alter ego" or "instrumentality rule", attempted to create a piercing standard. Generally, the plaintiff has to prove that the incorporation was merely a formality and that the corporation neglected corporate formalities and protocols, such as voting to approve major corporate actions in the context of a duly authorized corporate meeting. This is quite often the case when a corporation facing legal liability transfers its assets and business to another corporation with the same management and shareholders. It also happens with single person corporations that are managed in a haphazard manner. As such, the veil can be pierced in both civil cases and where regulatory proceedings are taken against a shell corporation.

Liability: Ownership of a C-Corporation is vested in its stockholders, whose liability is limited to the amount of their investment. The Corporation is liable for all of its debts, and for the actions of employees acting as agents of the organization. Creditors may lay claim against corporate assets, but cannot reach stockholders’ personal assets. Additionally, stockholders have no claim against corporate assets.

What is slavery and where does it stem from. The Webster’s dictionary definition of slavery means “the condition of a slave; the state of entire subjection of one person to the will of another”. The African slave trade started way back in the 1400’s from the west coast of Africa1stAfrica entered into a unique relationship with Europe that led to the devastation and depopulation of Africa, but contributed to the wealth and development of Europe. From then until the end of the 19th century, Europeans began to establish a trade for African captives. Why would people do such a thing what were they to gain from such wickedness? Timothy 6:10”For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

In The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, the idea of the Veil is a dominant theme throughout the book. The Veil is a social phenomenon that describes the divide between black and white Americans through social and economic issues. To demonstrate these issues Du Bois utilizes vivid imagery to cement the abstract concept that is the Veil. He likens it by bringing together visions of the sea and land, exploring the parallels of John and John, personifying it into his own son and contrasting the city and rural village. Through this exploration of imagery, Du Bois creates a concrete image of the Veil and it’s warring sides.

The first and arguably most important point is that restrictions placed on parties’ knowledge behind the veil of ignorance do not help us to come to sound conclusions about social justice. The veil of ignorance creates epistemic constraints for the parties. They do not know any facts about themselves such as race, age, gender, psychological predispositions, or their social standing. They also do not know their conceptions of the good - views about what they find valuable or important to lead a good life (Rawls 1999: 118). They do, however, have access to social, economic, and scientific theories to help create principles of justice. It can be claimed that parties are deprived of excessive knowledge, so much so they are psychologically unable

Choosing a Corporation/Company Structure - the business structure of a company/ corporation is highly recommended, it has the flexibility to gain more capital, or credit capability and assets used as security. Based on the Corporation Act 2001 (Cth) AC 22, a corporation is another legal entity with their own legal rights, duties and responsibilities separate to the individual or owner of the company (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, 2013, pp 229). The risk and consequences are one of the principal considerations of choosing a company structure (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, pp 50). Based on the “Corporate Veil” Liability is owned by a separate legal entity and not to the extent of the owner, for instance, the debt of the company is not a personal liability, but the company. This is further explained in the case below.

Limited liability Company (LLC): Business’ owners are only subject to limited liability for company’s debts and actions. Owners will be only liable for their own mistakes or negligence that they may show in occasions.

The concept of a company being a separate legal entity is the most striking illustration in separating the company from its owners. A paramount principle of corporate law is that no shareholder or member of a company is made liable for the obligations incurred by such incorporations A company is different from its members in the eyes of law. In continuations to this the opposite also holds true in the sense that neither can the company be held liable for the acts of its members. It is a fundamental distinction that a company is distinct from its members.

There is no clear framework of the rules that would cover the contingencies of a ruling to pierce the corporate veil Idoport Pty Ltd v National Australia Bank Ltd. The corporate Veil usually protects owners and shareholders from being held liable for corporate duties. Yet again a decision made by the court to lift that veil and would place the liability on shareholders, owners, administrators, executives and officers of the company without ownership interest. The purpose of this essay is to conduct an analysis on the concept of lifting the corporate veil and to review the different views on its fairness and equitability to present a better understanding of the notion, the methods used was throughout researching the numerous scholars views on the subject, case law and statutes examples, and the evidence provided by the empirical study of Ramsay & Noakes. When we discuss the lifting the corporate veil the first case that pops out is the case of Salomon V A. Salomon & Co Ltd, since the decisions of applying the corporate veil were first formed as a consequence of this case. The idea covers all of company law and distinguishes that a company is a separate legal entity from its members and directors. Furthermore, spencer (2012); have indicated that one of the core principles that followed the decision in Salomon v Salomon was the wide acceptance one man company’s. However In order to form a

(63)” Limited liability is another thing that is not inherently bad. If shareholders were completely held responsible for the debts of a corporation, then nobody would want to invest in any company. Limited liability helps boost the economy by encouraging people to invest money in companies which then make products for consumers to buy. Limited liability can also be used in a bad way such as when the owners of BP were not able to be held accountable for the environmental damage and the loss of 11 lives because they ignored safety regulations to make a bigger profit. The BP oil spill is another example of corporation privatizing profits and socializing cost. BP cut costs by getting around safety regulations on their oil rig. They Saved money and increased their profit by doing this but all of that profit stayed among the BP shareholders, however when the oil rig exploded the shareholders were not forced to pay for the damages and reparations. The public was forced to pay the cost of cleaning up the gulf. The shareholders made a profit by cutting corners, but when it finally caught up with them and disaster struck, they passed the cost of it on to everyone

The advantages to a LLC are: 1) Reduction of personal liability. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability, which can include the potential loss of all personal assets. 2) Taxes. Forming an LLC may mean that more expenses can be considered business expenses and be deducted from the company’s income. 3) Improved credibility. The business may have increased credibility in the business world compared to a sole proprietorship. 4) Ability to attract investment. Corporations, even LLCs, can raise capital through the sale of equity. 5) Continuous life. Sole proprietorships have a limited life,

Corporation origin from the Latin word Corpus which means body. It is formed by a group of people and has separate rights and liability from those individual. In any means, corporation exists independently from its owner and this principle is called the doctrine of separate personality. Doctrine of separate personality is the basic and fundamental principle in a Company Law. This principle outline the legal relationship between company and its members. Company’s assets belong to the company not the shareholders as assets are the equity for creditors. Company must use up all its assets to pay off the creditors if it became insolvent. The same applies to the corporation’s debts. For limited liabilities company, the shareholder liability is limited which means that the shareholder is restricted to the number of shares they paid and not personally liable for the corporation’s debts. If the company does not have enough equity to pay off debts, the creditors cannot come after the shareholders. However, limited liability company can be very powerful when in hands who do fraud and on defeating creditors’ claims. Courts then can ignore the doctrine for exception cases and lifting the corporate veil. Lifting the corporate veil is a situation where courts put aside limited liability and hold a corporation’s shareholders or directors personally liable for the corporation’s debts.