The Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (revoked)

CHAPTER IIF12N.I.COMPANY NAMES

Name as stated in memorandumN.I.

35.—(1) The name of a public company must end with the words “public limited company” and those words may not be preceded by the word “limited”.

(2) In the case of a company limited by shares or by guarantee (not being a public company), the name must have “limited” as its last word, subject to Article 40 (exempting, in certain circumstances, a company from the requirement to have “limited” as part of the name).

Prohibition on registration of certain namesN.I.

36.—(1) A company shall not be registered under this Order by a name—

(a)which includes, otherwise than at the end of the name, any of the following words or expressions, that is to say, “limited”, “unlimited”F1 or “public limited company”;

(b)which includes otherwise than at the end of the name an abbreviation of any of those words or expressions;

[F2(bb)which includes, at any place in the name, the expression “investment company with variable capital” or “open‐ended investment company”;]

[F3(bbb)which includes, at any place in the name, the expression “limited liability partnership”;]

(c)which is the same as a name appearing in the registrar's index of company names;

(d)the use of which by the company would in the opinion of the Department constitute a criminal offence; or

(e)which in the opinion of the Department is offensive.

(2) Except with the approval of the Department, a company shall not be registered under this Order by a name which—

(a)in the opinion of the Department would be likely to give the impression that the company is connected in any way with Her Majesty's Government or with any district council; or

(b)includes any word or expression for the time being prescribed in regulations under Article 39.

(3) In determining for the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) whether one name is the same as another, there are to be disregarded—

(a)the definite article, where it is the first word of the name;

(b)the following words and expressions where they appear at the end of the name, that is to say—

(c)abbreviations of any of those words or expressions where they appear at the end of the name; and

(d)type and case of letters, accents, spaces between letters and punctuation marks;

and “and” and “&” are to be taken as the same.

Alternatives of statutory designationsN.I.

37.—(1) A company which by any provision of this Order is either required or entitled to include in its name, as the last part, any of the words specified in paragraph (4) may, instead of those words, include as the last part of its name the abbreviations there specified as alternatives in relation to those words.

(2) A reference in this Order to the name of a company or to the inclusion of any of those words in a company's name includes a reference to the name including (in place of any of the words so specified) the appropriate alternative, or to the inclusion of the appropriate alternative, as the case may be.

(3) A provision of this Order requiring a company not to include any of those words in its name also requires it not to include the abbreviated alternative specified in paragraph (4).

(4) For the purposes of this Article—

(a)the alternative of “limited” is “ltd.”; and

(b)the alternative of “public limited company” is “p.l.c.”.F6

Change of nameN.I.

38.—(1) A company may by special resolution change its name (but subject to Article 41 in the case of a company which has received a direction under paragraph (2) of that Article from the Department).

(2) Where a company has been registered by a name which—

(a)is the same as or, in the opinion of the Department, too like a name appearing at the time of the registration in the registrar's index of company names, or

(b)is the same as or, in the opinion of the Department, too like a name which should have appeared in that index at that time,

the Department may within 12 months of that time, in writing, direct the company to change its name within such period as the Department may specify.

(3) If it appears to the Department that misleading information has been given for the purpose of a company's registration with a particular name, or that undertakings or assurances have been given for that purpose and have not been fulfilled, the Department may within 5 years of the date of the company's registration with that name in writing direct the company to change its name within such period as the Department may specify.

(4) Where a direction has been given under paragraph (2) or (3), the Department may by a further direction in writing extend the period within which the company is to change its name, at any time before the end of that period.

(5) A company which fails to comply with a direction under this Article, and any officer of it who is in default, is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

(6) Where a company changes its name under this Article, the registrar shall (subject to Article 36) enter the new name on the register in place of the former name, and shall issue a certificate of incorporation altered to meet the circumstances of the case; and the change of name has effect from the date on which the altered certificate is issued.

(7) A change of name by a company under this Article does not affect any rights or obligations of the company or render defective any legal proceedings by or against it; and any legal proceedings that might have been continued or commenced against it by its former name may be continued or commenced against it by its new name.

Regulations about namesN.I.

39.—(1) The Department may by regulations—

(a)prescribe words or expressions for the registration of which as or as part of a company's corporate name the Department's approval is required under Article 36(2)(b), and

(b)in relation to any such word or expression, prescribe a government department or other body as the relevant body for the purposes of paragraph (2).

(2) Where a company proposes to have as, or as part of, its corporate name any such word or expression in relation to which a relevant body has been prescribed under paragraph (1)(b), a request shall be made (in writing) to the relevant body to indicate whether (and if so why) it has any objections to the proposal; and the person to make the request is—

(a)in the case of a company seeking to be registered under this Part, the person making the statutory declaration[F7 under Article 23(3) or statement under Article 23(4) (as the case may be)],

(b)in the case of a company seeking to be registered under Article 629, the persons making the statutory declaration[F7 under Article 635(2) or statement under Article 635(2A) (as the case may be)], and

(c)in any other case, a director or secretary of the company concerned.

(3) The person who has made that request to the relevant body shall submit to the registrar a statement that it has been made and a copy of any response received from that body, together with—

(a)the requisite statutory declaration[F7 or statement], or

(b)a copy of the special resolution changing the company's name,

according as the case is the one or the other of those mentioned in paragraph (2).

(4) Articles 658 and 659 (public inspection of documents kept by registrar) do not apply to documents sent under paragraph (3) other than documents mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of that paragraph.

(5) Regulations under this Article may contain such transitional provisions and savings as the Department thinks appropriate.

(6) The regulations shall be laid before the Assembly after being made and shall cease to have effect at the end of the statutory period next after the regulations have been so laid (but without prejudice to anything previously done by virtue of the regulations or to the making of new regulations) unless during that period they are approved by a resolution of the Assembly.

Exemption from requirement of “limited” as part of the nameN.I.

40.—(1) Certain companies are exempt from requirements of this Order relating to the use of the word “limited” as part of the company name.

(2) A private company (including a private company about to be registered) limited by guarantee is exempt from those requirements and so too is a company which on 30th June 1983 was a private company limited by shares with a name which, by virtue of a licence under section 19 of the Act of 1960, did not include the word “limited”; but in either case the company must, to have the exemption, comply with the requirements of paragraph (3).

(3) Those requirements are that—

(a)the objects to the company are (or, in the case of a company about to be registered, are to be) the promotion of commerce, art, science, education, religion, charity or any profession, and anything incidental or conducive to any of those objects; and

(b)the company's memorandum or articles—

(i)require its profits (if any) or other income to be applied in promoting its objects,

(ii)prohibit the payment of dividends to its members, and

(iii)require all the assets which would otherwise be available to its members generally to be transferred on its winding up either to another body with objects similar to its own or to another body the objects of which are the promotion of charity and anything incidental or conducive thereto (whether or not the body is a member of the company).

(4) [F8Subject to paragraph (5A), a statutory declaration] that a company complies with the requirements of paragraph (3) may be delivered to the registrar, who may accept the declaration as sufficient evidence of the matters stated in itF8. . . .

(5) The statutory declaration must be in the prescribed form and be made—

(a)in the case of a company to be formed, by a solicitor engaged in its formation or by a person named as director or secretary in the statement delivered under Article 21(2);

(b)in the case of a company to be registered in pursuance of Article 629, by two or more directors or other principal officers of the company; and

(c)in the case of a company proposing to change its name so that it ceases to have the word “limited” as part of its name, by a director or secretary of the company.

[F8(5A) In place of the statutory declaration referred to in paragraph (4), there may be delivered to the registrar using electronic communications a statement made by a person falling within the applicable sub-paragraph of paragraph (5) stating that the company complies with the requirements of paragraph (3); and the registrar may accept such a statement as sufficient evidence of the matters stated in it.

(5B) The registrar may refuse to register a company by a name which does not include the word “limited” unless a statutory declaration under paragraph (4) or statement under paragraph (5A) has been delivered to him.

(5C) Any person who makes a false statement under paragraph (5A) which he knows to be false or does not believe to be true is liable to imprisonment or a fine, or both.]

(6) References in this Article to the word “limited” include the appropriate alternative.

(7) A company whichF9 is exempt from requirements relating to the use of the word “limited” and does not include that word as part of its name, is also exempt from the requirements of this Order relating to the publication of its name and the sending of lists of members to the registrar.

Provisions applying to company exempt under Article 40N.I.

41.—(1) A company which is exempt under Article 40 and whose name does not include the word “limited” shall not alter its memorandum or articles so that it ceases to comply with the requirements of paragraph (3) of that Article.

(2) If it appears to the Department that such a company—

(a)has carried on any business other than the promotion of any of the objects mentioned in that paragraph; or

(b)has applied any of its profits or other income otherwise than in promoting such objects; or

(c)has paid a dividend to any of its members,

the Department may, in writing, direct the company to change its name by resolution of the directors within such period as may be specified in the direction, so that its name ends with the word “limited”.

(3) A company which has received a direction under paragraph (2) shall not thereafter be registered by a name which does not include the word “limited”, without the approval of the Department.

(4) References in this Article to the word “limited” include the appropriate alternative.

(5) A company which contravenes paragraph (1), and any officer of it who is in default, is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

(6) A company which fails to comply with a direction by the Department under paragraph (2), and any officer of the company who is in default, is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

Power to require company to abandon misleading nameN.I.

42.—(1) If in the opinion of the Department the name by which a company is registered gives so misleading an indication of the nature of its activities as to be likely to cause harm to the public, the Department may direct it to change its name.

(2) The direction must, if not duly made the subject of an application to the court under paragraph (3), be complied with within a period of 6 weeks from the date of the direction or such longer period as the Department may think fit to allow.

(3) The company may, within a period of 3 weeks from the date of the direction, apply to the court to set it aside; and the court may set the direction aside or confirm it and, if it confirms the direction, shall specify a period within which it must be complied with.

(4) If a company makes default in complying with a direction under this Article, it is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

(5) Where a company changes its name under this Article, the registrar shall (subject to Article 36) enter the new name on the register in place of the former name, and shall issue a certificate of incorporation altered to meet the circumstances of the case; and the change of name has effect from the date on which the altered certificate is issued.

(6) A change of name by a company under this Article does not affect any of its rights or obligations or render defective any legal proceedings by or against it; and any legal proceedings that might have been continued or commenced against it by its former name may be continued or commenced against it by its new name.

Prohibition on trading under misleading nameN.I.

43.—(1) A person who is not a public company is guilty of an offence if he carries on any trade, profession or business under a name which includes, as its last part, the words “public limited company” or any contraction or imitation of those words.

(2) A public company is guilty of an offence if, in circumstances in which the fact that it is a public company is likely to be material to any person, it uses a name which may reasonably be expected to give the impression that it is a private company.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) or (2) and, if that person is a company, any officer of the company who is in default, is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

Penalty for improper use of “limited”N.I.

44.  If any person trades or carries on business under a name or title of which the word “limited”, or any contraction or imitation of that word, is the last word, that person, unless duly incorporated with limited liability, is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine.

{prosp. insertion of art. 44A by 2005 NI17}N.I.