Bahamas

CHAPTER 330

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1.      Citation

2.      Register

3.      Refusal to register or remove business name

4.      Absence of notice of appeal

5.      Notice of appeal

6.      Documents to be delivered by appellant

7.      Decision in writing

8.      Time

9.      Fees

10.  Forms

SCHEDULE

1.      FORM 1

2.      FORM 2

3.      FORM 3

4.      FORM 4

5.      FORM 5

6.      FORM 6

7.      FORM 7

8.      FORM 8

9.      FORM 9

10.  FORM 10

11.  FORM 11

12.  FORM 12

CHAPTER 330

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES RULES, 1995

(SECTION 18)

[Commencement 2nd July, 1995]

               1.These Rules may be cited as the Registration of Business Names Rules, 1995.

2.Whenever any act is by the Registration of Business Names Act (“the  Act”) required to be done by the Registrar, the act shall be done by the Registrar General or by the Deputy Registrar General.

Procedure under section 15

3.Where the Registrar, pursuant to section 15(1) of the Act, decides to refuse to register any business name or, as the case may be, to remove any business name from the register, he shall send by post to the firm or individual applying for registration or, as the case may be, registered in respect of the business name, a notice in writing of his decision, and the notice shall contain a statement that any person  aggrieved  by  the  decision  may  appeal  to  the Minister within twenty-one days of the notice.

4.If within twenty-one days from the date of the notice of a decision of the Registrar under section 15(1) of the Act to remove a business name from the register, no notice of appeal from the decision is received by the Registrar, or if on appeal the decision of the Registrar is upheld, the Registrar shall remove the business name from the register in accordance with his decision.

Appeals to the Minister

5.Any person intending to appeal to the Minister from any decision of the registrar under section 15(1) of the Act shall, within twenty-one days of the date of the notice of the decision, deliver to the Registrar a notice of appeal in Form 10 and such notice shall be accompanied by a statement of the grounds of appeal and of the appellant’s case in support thereof.

6.A copy of the notice of appeal, together with a copy of the statement of the grounds of appeal and of the case in support thereof, and a copy of the notice of the Registrar’s decision shall at the same time be delivered by the appellant to the Minister.

    7.The decision of the Minister shall be communicated to the appellant in writing.

8.The time prescribed in these Rules for doing any act  thereunder by or to the Registrar, or by or to the Minister may be extended by the Minister upon such terms as he may direct, and the extension may be granted though the time has expired for doing such act.

Fees

    9.The fees to be paid to the Registrar under the Act shall be as follows —

     (a)  on a Statement of Particulars required by section 5 of the Act, the sum of fifty dollars annually;

    (b) on any Statement of Particulars required by the Schedule to the Act when such particulars are not furnished with the Statement of Particulars required by section 5 of the Act, the sum of five dollars;

   (c)  on a statement of any change within the meaning of section 8 of the Act, the sum of ten dollars;

   (d) by any person inspecting under the provisions of section 17 of the Act the documents filed by the Registrar, the sum of five dollars for each inspection;

   (e) on the application of any person requiring under section 17 of the Act a certificate of registration of any firm, individual or corporation or a certified copy of or extract from any registered statement the sum of five dollars for a certificate of registration and for each certified copy or extract the sum of five dollars;

                   (f) by any person appealing to the Minister from a decision of the Registrar, the sum of fifteen dollars, and such fees as are payable under paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) shall cover the issue of one certificate of the registration of the statement.

Forms

        10.The forms in the Schedule, with such variations as the circumstances of each case may require, shall be the forms to be used under the Act.

SCHEDULE (Rule 10) FORM 1

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION BY AN INDIVIDUAL (see sec. 3(1)(b) and (c))

This statement must be delivered to the Registrar General’s Department

                 No. of Certificate.................................... REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

I, the undersigned hereby apply for registration pursuant to the provisions of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1989 and for that purpose furnish the following statement of particulars:

(1) The business name.

(2) The general nature of the business. (3) The principal place of the business.

(4) The present given name (or names) and surname of the individual.

(5) Any former given name (or names) or surname of the individual.(see note)

*Note — References in the Act to a former given name or surname shall not include a former given name or surname where that name or surname has been been changed or disused before the person bearing the name had attained the age of eighteen years; and, in the case of a married woman, shall not include the name or surname by which she was known previous to the marriage.

                (6) The nationality of the individual.

                (7) The nationality of origin of the individual, if not the same as the present nationality.

                (8) The usual residence of the individual.

                (9) The other business occupation (if any) of the individual.

               (10) The date of the commencement of the business, if the business was commenced after the date of the commencement of the Act.

              (11) Any other business name or names under which the business is carried on.

Dated this ........................... day of .........................., 199.......

.................................. (Signature)

(see note)

*Note —This statement must in all cases be signed by the individual applying for registration.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of particulars within the time specified will, in addition to any disability imposed by the Act entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day during which the default continues; and any statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for three months.

Where the individual applying for registration carries on the business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee of or for another person or other persons or a corporation or acts as general agent for any foreign firm the additional particulars specified in Form 4 must also be furnished on such form and delivered to the Registrar in the manner and within the times before specified.

FORM 2

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION BY A FIRM (see sec. 3(1) (a) and (c))

This statement must be delivered to the Registrar General’s Department

                        No. of Certificate.................................... REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

[Insert name of firm].............................................................

hereby apply for registration under the provisions of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1989 and for that purpose furnish the following statement of particulars:

(1) The business name.

(2) The general nature of the business.

(3) The principal place of the business.

(4) The date of the commencement of the business if the business was commenced after the date of the commencement of the Act.

(5) Any other business name or names under which the business is carried on.

(6) The present given name or names and surnames of every individual who is and the corporate name of every corporation which is a partner in the firm.

(7) Any former given name or names or surname of every individual partner in the firm. (see note)

(8) The nationality of every individual partner in the firm.

(9) The   nationality of   origin   (if   other   than   the   present nationality) of every individual partner in the firm.

(10) The usual residence of every individual who is and the registered or principal office of every corporation which is a partner in the firm.

(11) The other business occupation (if any) of every individual partner in the firm.

Dated the.......................... day of .................... 199..........

.....................................

Signatures

(see note)

*Note — This statement must be signed either —

(a) by all the individuals who are partners and by a director or the secretary of any corporation which is a partner; or

(b) (1) by any individual who is a partner, and

(2) by a director or the secretary of any corporation which is a partner;

and in cases (b)(1) and (2) must be verified by a statutory declaration made by the signatory.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of particulars within the time specified will, in addition to any disability imposed by the Act entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day during which the default continues; and any statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for three months.

Where the individual applying for registration carries on the business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee of or for another person or other persons or a corporation or acts as general agent for any foreign firm the additional particulars specified in Form 5 must also be furnished on such form and delivered to the Registrar in the manner and within the times before specified.

References in the Act to a former given name or surname shall not include a former given name or surname where that name  or  surname  has  been  changed  or  disused  before  the person bearing the name had attained the age of eighteen years; and, in the case of a married woman, shall not include the name or surname by which she was known previous to the marriage.

FORM 3

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION BY A CORPORATION

This statement must be delivered to the Registrar General’s Department

                                         No. of Certificate..................................... REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

having a place of business in The Bahamas and carrying on the business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee of or for another person or other persons or another corporation or acting as general agent for any foreign firm.

[Insert name of corporation] ................................................. hereby applies for registration under the provisions of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1989 and for that purpose furnish the following statement of particulars:

(1) The business name.

(2) The general nature of the business.

(3) The principal place of the business.

(4) The date of the commencement of the business if the business was commenced after the date of commencement of the Act.

(5) The other name or names (if any) under which the business is carried on.

(6) The corporate name of the corporation applying for registration.

(7) The registered or principal office of the corporation applying for registration.

The following statement of additional particulars (8), (9), (10), (11), (12) and (13) is to be furnished in respect of the carrying on by the corporation of the business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee of or for another person or other persons or another corporation, provided that if the business is carried on under any trust and any of the beneficiaries are a class of children or other persons, then the particulars required under (13) only need be furnished.

(8) The present given name or names and surname or the corporate name of every person or corporation on whose behalf the business is carried on.

               (9) Any former name or names of any person on whose behalf the business is carried on. (see note)

                 (10) The nationality of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on.

                 (11) The nationality of origin of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on, if other than the present nationality.

                 (12) The usual residence of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on.

                 (13) Description of the class of beneficiaries.

* Note — References in the Act to a former given name or surname shall not include a former given name or surname where that name or surname has been changed or disused before the person bearing the name had attained the age of eighteen years; and, in the case of a married woman, shall not include the name or surname by which she was known previous to the marriage.

The further following statement of additional particulars is to be furnished in respect of any corporation having a place  of  business  within  The  Bahamas  and  acting  as general agent for any foreign firm 1.

                 (14) The business name and address of the foreign firm as agent for whom the business is carried on.

 If the business is carried on as agent for three or more foreign firms it is sufficient to state the fact that the business is so carried on, specifying the countries in which such foreign firms carry on business.

Dated the ........................ day of ......................., 199........

...................................

Signature

(see note)

1 “Foreign firm” means any firm, individual or corporation whose principal place of business is situated outside The Bahamas.

FORM 4

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS TO BE FURNISHED BY AN INDIVIDUAL PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE ACT

       The business name.........................       No. of Certificate..........

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

1.    Where any individual having a place of business in The Bahamas carries on the business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee of or for another person or other persons or a corporation, the particulars required under (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) must be furnished, provided that if the business is carried on under any trust and any of the beneficiaries are a class of children or other persons, then the particulars required under (6) only need be furnished.

(1) The present given name or names and surname or the corporate name of every person or corporation on whose behalf the business is carried on.

(2) Any former name or names of any person on whose behalf the business is carried on. (see note)

(3) The nationality of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on.

(4) The nationality of origin of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on, if other than the present nationality.

(5) The usual residence of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on.

(6) Description of the class of beneficiaries.

*Note — References in the Act to a former given name or surname shall not include a former given name or surname where that name or surname has been changed or disused before the person bearing the name had attained the age of eighteen years; and, in the case of a married woman, shall not include the name or surname by which she was known previous to the marriage.

2.   Where any individual having a place of business within The Bahamas acts as general agent for any * foreign firm the following particulars must be furnished.

(7) The business name and address of the foreign firm as agent for whom the business is carried on.

* “Foreign firm” means any firm, individual or corporation whose principal place of business is situated outside The Bahamas.

 If the business is carried on as agent for three or more foreign firms it is sufficient to state the fact that the business is so carried on, specifying the countries in which such foreign firms carry on business.

Dated the ........................ day of ............................, 199.........

...................................

Signature

(see note)

*Note —This statement must in all cases be signed by the individual applying for registration.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of  additional particulars within the  time  specified will, in addition to any disability imposed by the Act, entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day  during  which  the  default  continues;  and  any  statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for three months.

FORM 5

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS TO BE FURNISHED BY A FIRM PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE ACT

The business name.........................  No. of Certificate..........

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

1.    Where any firm having a place of business in The Bahamas carries on the business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee of or for another person or other persons or a corporation, the particulars required under (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) must be furnished, provided, that if the business is carried on under any trust and any of the beneficiaries are a class of children or other persons, then the particulars required under (6) only need be furnished.

(1) The present given name or names and surname or the corporate name of every person or corporation on whose behalf the business is carried on.

(2) Any former name or names of any person on whose behalf the business is carried on. (see note)

(3) The nationality of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on.

(4) The nationality of origin of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on, if other than the present nationality

(5)The usual residence of every person on whose behalf the business is carried on.

                               (6) Description of the class of beneficiaries.

*Note — References in the Act to a former given name or surname shall not include a former given name or surname where that name or surname has been changed or disused before the person bearing the name had attained the age of eighteen years; and, in the case of a married woman, shall not include the name or surname by which she was known previous to the marriage.

   2.   Where any firm having a place of business in The Bahamas acts as general agent for any * foreign firm the following particulars must be furnished.

          (7) The business name and address of the foreign firm as agent for whom the business is carried on.

If the business is carried on as agent for three or more foreign firms it is sufficient to state the fact that the business is so carried on, specifying the countries in which such foreign firms carry on business.

Dated the ...................... day of ........................, 199..........

...................................

Signature

(see note)

* “Foreign firm” means any firm, individual or corporation whose principal place of business is situated outside The Bahamas.

*Note —This statement must be signed either —

(a) by all the individuals who are partners and by a director or the secretary of any corporation which is a partner, or

(b) (1) by any individual who is a partner, and

(2) by a director or the secretary or any corporation which is a partner;

and in cases (b) (1) and (2), must be verified by a statutory declaration made by the signatory.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of particulars within the time specified will, in addition to any disability imposed by the Act entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day during which the default continues; and any statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment of three months.

FORM 6

STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 8 OF THE ACT OF NATURE OF CHANGE IN THE PARTICULARS REGIS­ TERED BY AN INDIVIDUAL AND DATE OF CHANGE

                             No. of Certificate...................................... REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

The following is a statement of change (and of the date of such change) which has been made or has occurred in the particulars registered in respect of

................................................................................................... [Here insert business name of individual]

................................................................................................... [Here insert nature and date of change]

Dated the ......................... day of ........................, 199........

...................................

Signature

(see note)

*Note — This statement must be signed by the individual, and when signed must be delivered to the Registrar General within fourteen days after any change in any of the particulars registered or within such longer period as the Minister may on application being made in any particular case, whether before or after the expiration of such fourteen days, allow.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of any change in the particulars registered within the specified time will, in addition to any disability imposed by the Act, entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day during which the default continues, and any statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for three months.

FORM 7

STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 8 OF THE ACT OF NATURE OF CHANGE IN THE PARTICULARS REGISTERED BY A FIRM AND DATE OF CHANGE

                       No. of Certificate...................................... REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

The following is a statement of a change (and of the date of such change) which has been made of has occurred in the particulars registered in respect of..............................................

................................................................................................... [Here insert business name of firm]

................................................................................................... [Here insert nature and date of change]

Dated the .................... day of .............................., 199 .......

...................................

Signature

(see note)

*Note — This statement must be signed either —

(a) by all the individuals who are partners and by a director or the secretary of any corporation which is a partner, or

(b) (1) by any individual who is a partner, and

(2) by a director or the secretary of any corporation which is a partner;

and in cases (b) (1) and (2) must be verified by a statutory declaration made by the signatory.

This statement when signed must be delivered to the Registrar General within fourteen days after any change in any of the particulars registered or within such longer period as the Minister may on application being made in any particular case, whether before or after the expiration of such fourteen days, allow.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of any change in the particulars registered within the specified time will, in addition to any disability imposed by the Act, entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day during which the default continues, and any statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for three months.

FORM 8

STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 8 OF THE ACT OF NATURE OF CHANGE IN THE PARTICULARS REGISTERED BY A CORPORATION AND DATE OF CHANGE

                              No. of Certificate...................................... REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

The following is a statement of a change (and of the date of such change) which has been made or has occurred in the particulars registered in respect of

.................................................................................................... [Here insert name of corporation]

.................................................................................................... [Here insert nature and date of change]

Dated the ........................... day of ........................., 199.......

...................................

Signature

(see note)

*Note — This statement must be signed by a director or secretary of the corporation and when signed must be delivered to the Registrar General within fourteen days after any change in any of the particulars registered or within such longer period as the Minister may on application being made in any particular case, whether before or after the expiration of such fourteen days, allow.

Failure without reasonable excuse to furnish the required statement of any change in the particulars registered within the specified time will in addition to any disability imposed by the Act, entail liability on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars for every day during which the default continues, and every director, secretary or officer of the corporation who is knowingly a party to the default will be liable to a like penalty; and any statement which contains any matter which is false in any material particular to the knowledge of any person signing it will entail liability on conviction to a fine of one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for three months.

FORM 9

NOTICE PURSUANT TO SECTION 14 OF THE ACT OF CESSATION OF BUSINESS BY A REGISTERED FIRM OR INDIVIDUAL

                      No. of Certificate........................................ REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT, 1989

Notice is hereby given that....................................................

....................................................................................................

  [Here insert name and address of firm or individual as the case may be] of ..........................................................................., ceased to carry on business on the ...................... day of ........, 199......

Dated the ................... day of ............................., 199.........