United Kingdom Leading Case single economic unitagencyparent subsidiaryseparate legal personality

Adams v Cape Industries plc

[1990] Ch 433

JurisdictionUnited Kingdom

CourtCourt of Appeal (Civil Division)

Year1990

StatusBinding authority

Key Principle

Courts will not treat a corporate group as a single economic unit, nor pierce the veil merely because justice requires it; piercing is confined to genuine façade, agency or statutory/contractual construction.

Area of Law

Company, Insolvency & Banking

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