On the Question of Transparency of Financial Reporting: Doctrine of “Piercing the Corporate Veil”

In the context of the globalization of the world economy, the task of ensuring the transparency of information about the company’s financial position remains relevant. The purpose of the paper is to recommend the transformation the economic entity principle in the doctrine of “piercing the corporate veil” formed in international legal practice, the essence of which is to identify the ultimate beneficial owners of a business. To achieve this purpose, the following tasks are performed: to identify the scope of the “corporate veil” concept in international practice, to establish the relationship of the described issues with the conceptual framework of international financial reporting, and also to propose ways to overcome the insufficiency of the principle of economic entity to ensure the transparency of financial reporting in the current economic conditions. The object of the research is represented by a set of economic and legal interpretations of the “economic entity” and “corporate veil” concepts in their historical development. The subject of the research is the impact of the “piercing the corporate veil” doctrine on the composition and structure of consolidated financial statements. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of legislative acts in different countries of the world aimed at increasing the transparency of financial reporting and the availability of information about beneficial owners of the business. The empirical basis of the research involves materials of court cases and journalistic investigations related to the veiling of the company’s ownership structure, as well as the published reports of international, multinational public companies. The authors have identified the stages and described the logic of transformation of the principle of economic entity in the global accounting practice. The authors have developed recommendations for the application of the principle of additional liability to ensure transparency and reliability of information about the financial position of the company in the current economic conditions. The results of the paper can be used in the preparation of corporate legislation and the development of international and national financial reporting standards.

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