New Rules for Company Names – UK

Companies House is running stronger checks on company names which may give a false or misleading impression to the public.
This will help them improve the accuracy and quality of the data they hold and help tackle the misuse of company names.

Their new powers to challenge and change company names

They can now reject an application to register a name where they have reason to believe:
• the name is intended to facilitate fraud
• the name is comprised of or contains a computer code
• the name is likely to give the false impression the company is connected to a foreign government or an international organisation whose members include two or more countries or territories (or their governments)

Companies House can also direct companies to change their name. If a company fails to change its name within 28 days, Companies House can now determine a new name for the company, for example, changing the company name to its registered company number.

Companies House can suppress a name from the register while a company responds to a direction to change its name.

Failure to comply is an offence
If a company does not respond to a direction to change their company name within 28 days, an offence is committed.
It is also an offence to continue using a company name which we have directed to change.

Reference: Companies House bulletin on changes introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Original post here.