UK: England and Wales: piercing the veil of incorporation

Late last month the High Court gave judgment in Antonio Gramsci Shipping Corp & Ors v Stepanovs [2011] EWHC 333 (Comm) and held that there was a good arguable case that the veil of incorporation should be pierced in order to make liable under various charterparties the ultimate beneficial owners of companies which had been formed for the perpetuation of fraud. The trial judge observed (paras. [26] and [27]):

There is in my judgment no good reason of principle or jurisprudence why the victim cannot enforce the agreement against both the puppet company and the puppet who, all the time, was pulling the strings. ... I accept ... that the puppeteer can be made liable, as a party to the contract, but that as a matter of public policy he cannot enforce the contract".