The end of corporate limited liability in Brazil

C'est sous ce titre, qui ne laissera ni Stéphane ni nos lectrices et lecteurs du blogue indifférents, que le professeur Bruno Salama mène des recherches (et un projet de livre) démontrant que la limitation de responsabilité des actionnaires - pierre angulaire des sociétés par actions - est devenue illusoire au Brésil. Cet auteur a présenté ses travaux à la Harvard Law School à l'hiver 2012.

Salama’s overarching observation was that while there is a general façade of liability limitation, the reality increasingly indicates a move towards unlimited liability. The primary focus of his book is on privately held companies, where this pattern has been the most prevalent. His analysis hinges on history within the interacting axes of Brazilian politics and economics. In this context, he discussed the relaxation of liability rules in the 1930s with the rise in power of Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas and then in the 1960s with the implementation of tax reforms. “Today, the main focus of liability has shifted away from negligence toward debt,” he concluded. “While the former had to be proved, the latter needs only to be paid. This shift in focus was not decreed, nor can it be expressly found in the rules of corporate law or in the rules of any other branch of law.”

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