Every person, firm, or body corporate, having a place of business in Ireland and carrying on a business under a business name that is not their own name, must register the business name within one month of adoption.
Proposed legislation states that a business name certificate, if issued, will be valid for five years from the date of registration.
A three-month time period, prior to the expiration of the five years, has been proposed to enable a holder to confirm the continued registration of the business name and to update the Register with any changes. If no renewal is forthcoming, the Registrar will issue a notification warning that the business name will be removed from the Register in 28 days. This notice may be issued electronically or by ordinary post to the place of business recorded on the Register.
The legislation proposes that information required to be furnished for individuals includes the Personal Public Service number of the individual and, in the case of non-EEA persons, proof that non-EEA persons are entitled to set up and carry on a business in Ireland. If the registration form is signed by some individual who is a partner, or by a director or secretary of some body corporate which is a partner, the signature must be verified by a statutory declaration.
As part of the registration process, the Registrar is entitled to request evidence that the applicant is trading from a substantial place of business in the State which cannot be just a post box or letter box address and, in the absence of evidence being furnished, the business name will not be registered.
Changes around the removal of a business name are also proposed as a three-month period to notify of a business cessation is being introduced.
The grounds under which the Registrar can remove a registration include where:
- there has been a failure to update the Register
- a business name is not being used
- information is not furnished
- the entities no longer exist on other registers.
Notification of removal will be issued by the Registrar. The notice must state the grounds for removal of the business name, set out the remedial steps necessary and specify the time period, not less than 28 days after the issue date of the notice, to remedy the issues or the name will be removed.
A transition period of 30 months will apply following the commencement of the new legislation when the Registrar shall identify businesses with registered business names that are no longer carrying on business and remove them from the Register.
To ensure enforcement, prosecutions may be brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions, or the Corporate Enforcement Authority. The Registrar can also prosecute for failure to file changes to a registration record.
It will be a category 2 offence to knowingly file false registration details and a category 3 offence to fail to comply with the registration process.