Part 5A company's name

F1CHAPTER 4AExceptions

76EExceptions based on national security etc

(1)

Nothing in this Part prevents the registration of a company under this Act by a name if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the registration of the company by that name is necessary—

(a)

in the interests of national security, or

(b)

for the purposes of preventing or detecting serious crime.

(2)

For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)—

(a)

“crime” means conduct which—

(i)

constitutes a criminal offence, or

(ii)

is, or corresponds to, any conduct which, if it all took place in any one part of the United Kingdom, would constitute a criminal offence, and

(b)

crime is “serious” if—

(i)

the offence which is or would be constituted by the conduct is an offence for which the maximum sentence (in any part of the United Kingdom) is imprisonment for 3 years or more, or

(ii)

the conduct involves the use of violence, results in substantial financial gain or is conduct by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose.