New rules for company names Were running stronger checks on company names which may give a false or misleading impression to the public. This will help us improve the accuracy and quality of the data we hold and help tackle the misuse of company names. Our new powers to challenge and change company names We can now reject an application to register a name where we 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) We can also direct companies to change their name. If a company fails to change its name within 28 days, we can now determine a new name for the company, for example, changing the company name to its registered company number. We 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. Its also an offence to continue using a company name which we have directed to change. Further information about the changes This is the fourth in a series of bulletins about the changes we've introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. The next bulletin will focus on changes to our fees. | 