The lifting of corporate veil doctrine in Hong Kong: an empirical, comparative, and development perspective

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical, comparative, and development perspective on the corporate veil doctrine. It contains a comprehensive survey of the corporate veil cases in Hong Kong. The survey results are then compared with comparable surveys of the US cases to highlight relevant characteristics in the Hong Kong courts' approach to the doctrine. The paper also analyses the doctrine and the limited liability principle in a development perspective to suggest that the Hong Kong courts should apply the doctrine more assertively to address externalization of corporate business costs, which is the inevitable consequence of limited liability.