ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a number o f issues that are common to the reform proposals set out in this work. Other common issues o f a “preliminary” nature were tackled in an earlier chapter.1
In terms o f the reform proposals, “enterprise” liability should, depending on the circumstances, take the form either o f holding company liability or of substantive consolidation (that is, the pooling o f the assets and liabilities of the whole group). So far, the terms “holding company” and “group” have been used quite generically and without actually having been defined. Without intending to make a fetish o f definitions, it must be acknowledged that a precise and practicable definition o f the terms is essential to the implementation o f the proposed rules. Having examined, in the previous chapters, various aspects o f the inter-relationship between companies in the closely-knit arrangements we have called groups, we are now in a better position to attempt the task o f definition. Before doing so, however, it would be pertinent to glance at existing judicial and legislative definitions.
