Comparative Aspects of Piercing the Corporate Veil in the United States and Latin America

Abstract

This article examines the history and uses of the corporate veil piercing doctrine in the United States, identifying its main elements and highlighting the different theoretical components of its application by courts in the United States in order to present an analytical framework for comparative law purposes. This study then analyzes how the veil piercing theory has been received in Latin American civil law jurisdictions, and undertakes an exhaustive analysis of the points of convergence and divergence between both systems. Finally, the article offers a discrete doctrinal discussion on the philosophical and theoretical grounds that justify an eventual ex- pansion of the veil piercing theory in Latin America, and with that aim draws extensively from the legal experience of the United States, highlighting potential lines of development for the future.