The Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) (Northern Ireland) Order 2005

This section has no associated Explanatory Memorandum

4.  After Article 44 insert—

Penalty for improper use of “community interest company”

44A.(1) A company which is not a community interest company is guilty of an offence if it carries on any trade, profession or business under a name which includes any of the expressions specified in paragraph (3).

(2) A person other than a company is guilty of an offence if it carries on any trade, profession or business under a name which includes any of those expressions (or any contraction of them) as its last part.

(3) The expressions are—

(a)“community interest company” , and

(b)“community interest public limited company”.

(4) Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply—

(a)to a person who was carrying on a trade, profession or business under the name in question at any time during the period beginning with 1st January 2005 and ending with 15th March 2005, or

(b)if the name in question was on 15th March 2005 a registered trade mark or Community trade mark (within the meaning of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (c. 26)), to a person who was on that date a proprietor or licensee of that trade mark.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) or (2) and, if that person is a company, any officer of the company who is in default, is liable to a fine and, for continued contravention, to a daily default fine..