Choosing a name is one of the first steps towards registering an offshore company. It should not only sound respectable and beautiful, reflect the essence of the company, but also comply with legal requirements and business standards.
The commonly used names are:
a) words indicating the type of activity of the company (Metal Trade);
b) abbreviations (the first letters of the surnames or names of the founders - KLD Corporation);
c) neutral words and phrases (Wella Pro Inc.), etc.
After you've chosen a name, you should check it for uniqueness and compliance with regulatory requirements in the country of registration. It is usually recommended that you prepare a list of 2-3 alternative names, so you could change them in case the first one’s not approved.
When choosing a name for an offshore company, the following factors should be considered.
1. The requirements of corporate law in the country of registration.
All offshore jurisdictions are subject to company name restrictions. The main requirements and prohibitions:
- the name must be unique and not similar to other names of companies previously registered in this jurisdiction;
- the name should not be offensive or contain uncensored words;
- if the name contains an abbreviation, it is necessary to provide its decoding;
- if the name contains foreign words, it is necessary to provide a translation.
- the corporate legislation of offshore zones contains an exhaustive list of so-called prohibited, as well as sensitive (“sensitive”) words that cannot be used in the name of the company.
2. Ethical principles.
Since the company will conclude and sign contracts, it is important that the name is in line with business ethics. If you work with foreign partners, consider their national characteristics. The name should not cause unpleasant associations, alert or offend your partner.
3. The business reputation of the company.
The name affects the business’s respectability and is one of the components of its success. It is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the target audience of your particular business.
What kind of reaction do you expect from customers and partners who first saw your company name? Do you want to make an impression of a solid partner or to attract the audience with a fun name?
4. The ending in the name of the company.
The name of the company must have an ending indicating its legal status (Limited, Corporation, Incorporated, etc.). Terminations can also be used in abbreviated form (Ltd., Corp., Inc., GmbH), in capital or small letters.
5. Coordination with the bank.
Usually, offshore registration is followed by opening a bank account. It makes sense to pre-negotiate with the selected bank the name for your future company. If you decide to change it, do it before this step.
Typically, banks do not refuse to open an account because of an “inappropriate” name. Nevertheless, it is better to coordinate this issue with the bank before registering the company.
But let's return to the question from the beginning of the article: “Can I change the name of an offshore company?”
Yes, the owner of the company can, on his own initiative, change the name of the company. This is usually done on the basis of a special resolution of the director. In order to perform this action, a notification must be sent to the registrar.
If the registrar is satisfied and all the requirements stipulated by law have been met, it makes the appropriate changes to the registry and issues a new certificate of state registration. The change of name enters into force on the date indicated on the new certificate of registration.
All in all, when addressing the issue of company names, one should insure themselves against possible confusions and errors, by choosing a simple form of identifying their company.
Thus, one should choose a familiar name that is easy to spell and doesn’t sound too strange to future customers and partners.
