Fraud or improper conduct:
English courts have intervened on numerous occasions and lifted the veil of incorporation in order to circumvent a fraudulent or improper design by a bunch of scheming promoters or shareholders. This is illustrated by the decisions in Jones and Another v Lipman and Another (13) and Gilford Motor Co Ltd v Horne (14). The court's order in the latter case is usually cited as an instance of lifting the veil but it should be noted that the defendant (Horne) was not a member of the company and, in principle, no veil existed between him and the company which would have been lifted by the court. It is rather an instance of the court regarding the company as Mr Horne in another form ("alter ego").
Enemy Character
A company may be regarded as an enemy if, inter alia, all or substantially all of its shares are held by alien enemies. This is illustrated by Daimler Co Ltd v Continental Tyre & Rubber Co (Great Britain) Ltd (15). Since there appears to be no Kenya case on the point, the principles summarised by Lord Parker may be useful guidance to a Kenyan who might have to determine, in a given case, whether a particular company is to be regarded as a friend or enemy of Kenya.