General policy statement
This Bill will amend the Companies Act 1993.
It will rectify an anomaly between the Companies Act 1993 and the Limited Partnerships Act 2008 in relation to identical or nearly identical names across entity types.
The Companies Act 1993 does not prohibit the registration of a new company with a name that is identical or nearly identical to that of an existing limited partnership.
By contrast, the Limited Partnerships Act 2008 does prohibit the registration of a new limited partnership with a name that is identical or nearly identical to that of an existing company.
The only substantive provision of this Bill is an amendment to the section of the Companies Act 1993 stating the basis on which the Registrar of Companies may approve the reservation of a new company name. That section (as amended) will refer to the names of limited partnerships and overseas limited partnerships registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 2008.