Companies Act 2006

67 Power to direct change of name in case of similarity to existing name U.K.

(1) The Secretary of State may direct a company to change its name if it has been registered in a name that is the same as or, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, too like—

(a) a name appearing at the time of the registration in the registrar's index of company names, or

(b) a name that should have appeared in that index at that time.

[F1 (1A) Where a direction is given under subsection (1), the registrar may omit from the material on the register that is available for public inspection any mention of the name to which the direction relates (so far as it relates to the company to which the direction is given).]

(2) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations supplementing this section.

(3) The regulations may make provision—

(a) as to matters that are to be disregarded, and

(b) as to words, expressions, signs or symbols that are, or are not, to be regarded as the same,

for the purposes of this section.

(4) The regulations may provide—

(a) that no direction is to be given under this section in respect of a name—

(i) in specified circumstances, or

(ii) if specified consent is given, and

(b) that a subsequent change of circumstances or withdrawal of consent does not give rise to grounds for a direction under this section.

(5) Regulations under this section are subject to negative resolution procedure.

(6) In this section “specified” means specified in the regulations.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 67(1A) inserted (26.10.2023 for specified purposes, 4.3.2024 in so far as not already in force) by Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (c. 56), ss. 14(3), 219(1)(2)(b); S.I. 2024/269, reg. 2(j)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Ss. 66-68 applied (with modifications) (1.10.2009) by The Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1804), regs. 2, 11 (with Sch. 1 paras. 3, 34, 35) (as amended (31.1.2015) by S.I. 2015/17, reg. 1(1), Sch. 5 para. 4; and (4.3.2024) by S.I. 2024/234, regs. 1(2), 9(2))

C2 S. 67(1) applied (with modifications) by S.I. 1989/638, reg. 11(1A)(1B) (as inserted (1.10.2009) by The European Economic Interest Grouping (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/2399), reg. 14(3) (with reg. 2))

Commencement Information

I1 S. 67 wholly in force at 20.1.2007; s. 67 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 1300; s. 67 in force for specified purposes at 20.1.2007 by S.I. 2006/3428, art. 3(3) (subject to art. 5, Sch. 1 and with arts. 6, 8, Sch. 5); s. 67 otherwise in force at 1.10.2009 by S.I. 2008/2860, art. 3(e) (with arts. 5, 7, 8, Sch. 2) (as amended by S.I. 2009/1802, art. 18)