The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court order allowing the sale of land to satisfy judgments against CLICO International Life Insurance Ltd and its administrator. The court ruled the trial judge misapplied the law on piercing the corporate veil.

The dispute involved creditors seeking to sell land valued at around $1.8 million, registered to CLICO TT, to enforce judgments from 2010. They claimed CLICO Antigua was the beneficial owner of the property, despite it being registered to CLICO TT.

The Court of Appeal found that CLICO Antigua was not the beneficial owner and that the trial judge incorrectly extended the corporate veil. The ruling clarified that the veil can only be pierced if there is evidence of deliberate evasion or frustration of legal obligations, which was absent in this case.

The court emphasized that beneficial ownership alone, without proof of impropriety, is insufficient to lift the corporate veil. Costs were ordered to be assessed if not agreed within 21 days.