ABSTRACT

The consequence of registering a business as a company is to transform the business into an entity in its own right, with legal rights and responsibilities that are distinct from those of its members. In modern company law registration as an incorporated company bequeaths a company with a separate legal personality; the business becomes a legal entity. This outcome is referred to as the doctrine of separate corporate personality. This doctrine is overwhelmingly important in Anglo-American corporate law and one which the judiciary will defend against huge social pressures. A taste of this assertion may be enjoyed from the American case of the People’s Pleasure Park Co v Rohleder.1