The name of a company is indicated in its memorandum as provided for under Article 69(1)(c) of the Companies Act.
Any change to the memorandum of the company is to follow the procedure laid down in Article 79 of the Companies Act, mainly through an extraordinary resolution of the company to alter its memorandum. It shall be the duty of the directors and of the company secretary to deliver to the Registrar for registration a printed copy of any resolution as aforesaid within fourteen days after the date of the resolution, together with a revised and updated copy of the memorandum, and of the articles, if any, as amended by the said resolution, incorporating all the changes effected to date.
If default is made in complying with the provisions relating to the aforesaid procedure, every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable to a penalty. For every day during which the default continues, a further penalty shall apply.
Once the aforesaid procedure is complied with, the change in the company’s name shall occur, whereby the Registrar enters the new name of the company on the register in place of the former name and shall issue a certificate of registration altered to meet the circumstances of the case.
Before changing its name, it is suggested for the company to reserve the proposed name beforehand, by submitting a notice to the Registrar. Name reservation is valid for a period of three (3) months. Refusal by the Registrar to reserve a name shall be communicated without delay to the person requesting such reservation. A refusal to reserve a proposed name may be based on the circumstance that such a name would be the same as a name of another company or so nearly similar as in the opinion of the Registrar it could create confusion; or is in the opinion of the Registrar offensive or undesirable; or because it would have been reserved by another company in the preceding three months.