There is no jurisdictional problem where a non-resident unit of an MNE acts on its own behalf in the forum state. To establish jurisdiction over a foreign affiliate of a domestic unit there must be sufficient linkages between them. The US generally will recognize service on the domestic subsidiary as service on the foreign parent. The acts of the domestic subsidiary may be imputed to a foreign parent by lifting the corporate veil. Where the foreign affiliate is not a parent company, the degree of economic integration is the key.
English law remains territorial in respecting corporate form for jurisdictional purposes.
The EC applies an enterprise entity test to prove a territorial connection between parent and subsidiary. The economic entity test treats the whole MNE as one unit present in the forum. This test is used by Argentina. The presence of a firm s directors in the forum jurisdiction may suffice for establishing personal jurisdiction over it. English law seems to accept this, and the US has approved personal jurisdiction based on transient presence, although not in the commercial context.