Business Name Registration In Nigeria – Requirements & How To

Every individual can register a business name.  Sole proprietors (that is every person), partnerships,  and companies can register business names.  However,  take note of the following;

a) INFANTS: an infant can register a business name. However, by section 574(6) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), where an individual who is a minor or a firm of which one of the partners is a minor intends to register a business name,  the signature of such a minor on the statement in the prescribed form shall be countersigned by a magistrate, legal practitioner or police officer of or above the rank of ASP. By Regulation 55 of the Companies Regulations 2012, where a Magistrate, legal practitioner or police officer of or above the rank of ASP countersigns a minor’s signature, such person shall state his full name, address and phone number.

b) FRAUDULENT PERSONS: fraudulent persons are absolutely barred or estopped  from registering or joining to register a business name. Where the Registrar has irrefutable evidence to the effect that an individual, firm or company that has previously been involved in fraudulent trade malpractices, either in local or international trade is submitting an application for the registration of a new business name, the Registrar shall refuse to register such a business.

STEP 1

SELECT AND RESERVE A NAME.

The reason for this is not far fetched. You cannot be allowed to register a business name that has already been registered with the CAC or a business name that is similar to an already registered business name as this will lead to chaos.  Any name which is identical with or similar to any name by which a firm, company, or individual is registered or any name which is similar to any trademark is included and will not be registered.

More so,  the Registrar of business name shall refuse to register or cancel the registration of any business name which contains any word which in the opinion of the Registrar is likely to mislead the public as to the nationality, race or religion of the persons by whom the business is wholly or mainly owned or controlled; or which is in the Registrar’s opinion,  deceptive or objectionable in that it contains a reference, direct or otherwise, to any personage, practice or institution or is otherwise unsuitable for use as a business name.

There are some other names which are restricted, that is they cannot be registered unless the consent of the CAC has been obtained and these names include;

a) Any name which contains the word national,  government, municipal, state, federal or any other word which suggests that the business enjoys the patronage of the federal, state or local government.

b) Any name which contains the word “co-operative” or its equivalent in any language or any abbreviation thereof.

c) Any name which contains the words “chambers of commerce”, building society,  guarantee,  trustee,  investment, bank, insurance or any word of similar connotation.

Take note that your business name will not be registered of it ends with limited (LTD) .

Now that we have discussed the issue of the requirements for a name, you are no doubt better equipped to pick a suitable name.

What do you do now,  once the next is available, you have to reserve the name with the CAC.  This reservation will last for 60 days,  after which it will be up for grabs. So ensure that you complete your registration within this stipulated time frame.  To reserve a name, create an account with the CAC on the CAC website. With this account you can get to the place where you can reserve the name and you will do this by filling the form with the required information. Continue till you get to the point of payment, where you will have to pay 500 naira to reserve the name.  The name is only reserved after you have made the payment.  After the payment, you will then have to wait for a response of whether your chosen name has been approved or not. The response should not take more than 24 hours. To make sure your name gets approved,  endeavor to take all the information that we have provided earlier regarding name into cognizance.

The approval note when it is sent to your email will be sent along with the availability code for the business name with which you will commence registration on the site.

STEP 2

BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION.

Log into the CAC website again and commence registration.  To achieve this click on “New registration”, then type in the availability code that was sent to you with the approval note in your email.  After you have typed in the availability code correctly, you’ll then go on to fill the forms correctly with all the required information. When you are done with filling the forms, click on “save and continue” and go through the preview of the form.  When you are satisfied submit and move on to making your payment for the registration through your chosen medium.

After payment, download and print out the statutory form that is Form BN 1. Sign all the necessary processes and take the document to the nearest court for stamping.

All that is left to do now is to upload the necessary documents which are;

a) Form BN 1

b) Note of approval

c) Proof of payment

d) Means of identification

e) Proficiency certificate (where applicable)

f) Residence permit ( If you are not a citizen of Nigeria)

And you are done.  You will sent a message showing that the registration was successful. You will also be provided with the BN number of your business name, which will appear on your certificate. Proceed to CAC and obtain your certificate.

However, if you miss any of the requirements and do not upload all the necessary documents or upload them incorrectly, or if there are inconsistencies, your business name registration will not be approved instead you will be issued a query.  You will then have to retrace your steps and resolve the query before uploading again.

If you get everything correctly, you can be done with your business name registration in 48 hours.

Like we pointed out earlier,  there are numerous benefits connected to the registration of your business name with the CAC.

To begin with your registered business name is protected from parallel registration of the name either as a corporate name, business name or trademark.  That is you have priority over the name and no other individual, firm, company or organization in Nigeria can register their organization or enterprise with that name.

Registering your business name also gives you assurance that your business is legally recognized and you have the license to carry on your business.

More so, it gives your business more credibility. Customers and clients will trust you more.

It also makes it easier to get loans, grants and attract investors as the registration will show that you are really serious with the business which gives an assurance of growth and expansion.

In addition you cannot open a corporate account unless your business is registered.  And the importance of having a corporate account for your business cannot be overemphasized.

When a business name has been registered, changes can still be made as it will not make sense that you go all out to register a new business name because of some changes you would want to be made.

A business name that has been duly registered can change its nature of business name, address, or proprietors. Regulations  56-59 of Companies Regulations provides for the requirement.  For change of business name, the following will be needed.

a) Form of approval of name

b) Duly completed application form

c) Duly completed form for change of business name

d) Formal application stating reason for change of name

e) Original certificate of registration and form for cancellation

f) Updated annual returns

g) Payment of filing fees

a) Duly completed application form

b) Evidence of change of name

c) Duly completed form for change of proprietor’s name.

d) Formal application for change of name

e) Original certificate of registration and form for cancellation

f) Form of identification where necessary

g) Update annual returns

h) Payment of filing fees.

a) Duly completed application form

b) Duly completed form for change of nature of business

c) Formal application and proficiency certificate where applicable

d) Original certificate of registration and form for cancellation

e) Form of identification where necessary

f) Update annual return

g) Payment of filing fees

a) Duly completed application form

b) Duly completed form for change of address

c) Formal application for change of address

d) Original certificate of registration and form of cancellation

e) Form of identification where necessary

f) Update annual returns.