CHAPTER 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.