The actions we take; the boundaries we cross; the duties we owe…- status of directors
The epitome of a company director in the eyes of the layperson is too often his perceived inflated wallet. No doubt avid newspaper readers will recall the works of cartoonists depicting directors as hoarders of vast sums of money with enormous wallets. However, to coin a often-quoted phrase, “with great power comes great responsibility”. Company directors are under a catalogue of duties, as detailed in Part 10 of the Companies Act 2006, and these are often conflicting and vague. Equally, provisions in the Insolvency Act 1986 and the dangers of lifting the corporate veil for ills conducted by shareholder-directors can both add to the dangers of the job. It would be thought, then, that the best way of avoiding such dangers is to be an “off-the-records director”. Legally referred to as “shadow directors”, a phrase which refers to “a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company are accustomed to act” (Section 251 CA 2006), the law has ensu
