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Why Name Referral May Happen in Case of a Singapore Company Registration?

Why Name Referral May Happen in Case of a Singapore Company Registration?

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Why name referral may happens in case of a Singapore Company Registration?

Company name registration is part of the company incorporation process in Singapore. A company name is important because it helps you establish an image for your business, capture the attention of potential customers, differentiate your business from your competitors, and introduce your business in the industry you belong to.

Before you decide on your company name, be informed first on what a company name referral is, why it happens, and its impact on the entire company incorporation process.

What Happens in Company Name Registration?

During the company name registration process, your corporate services provider (CSP) will verify first if your proposed company name is available. If it is available, your CSP will register that name for you and prepare all the necessary incorporation forms and documents with it. Once you sign the documents, the actual company incorporation will happen.

Name registration normally happens instantaneously. First, your CSP will register your company name and pay for it. Then, ACRA will send them an email probably a few minutes later, confirming that the company name application has been approved and the name will be reserved until a specific date.

However, in some circumstances, a company name may be referred to ACRA for internal approval or to other authorities. Your CSP will receive an email indicating the status of your company name application if this is the case. The mail will also say that the processing time for approval is 14 days to 2 months.

What Are the Reasons Behind a Company Name Referral?

Why name referral - Reasons

A company name may be referred to a specific authority or rejected by ACRA for the following reasons:

A company belonging to a certain field (e.g., a lawyer for legal services or a public accounting firm that is under the preview of a chartered accountancy society) will be automatically referred to its respective organization for approval.
A company with a similar, identical, or phonetically similar name to established brands may be also referred immediately to ACRA. A company name having words like “apple” or “Samsung” will be internally checked by ACRA, and it might probably get rejected as Apple and Samsung are well-known brand names.

A company name may also contain certain words that might be objectionable. If your company name includes “bank,” “government,” or “treasury,” it would not be clear whether your company name represents a government authority, a banking organization, a treasury department, or an independent company. In these cases, your company name will be referred to ACRA.
A company name that is undesirable, vulgar, or offensive will get rejected by ACRA as well.

The Verdict

These are the primary reasons why a company name may be referred either to ACRA or to other authorities. When that happens, the process will be usually delayed from a minimum of 3 working days to a maximum of 10 to 14 working days. (Even if the mail usually advises that the processing time is 2 weeks to 2 months).

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