Changing your company name means changing its legal status. In this article, you will find all the steps and procedures to follow for each legal form.
The decision must be taken by the competent bodies!
In the case of a limited liability company, the change of company name is made by the partners, by mutual agreement. To do this, they meet at what is called an extraordinary general meeting, chaired by the manager. Of course, in the case of a oneperson limited liability company or single shareholder private limited liability company, the change is made by the sole partner. In the case of a simplified joint-stock company, the articles of association must be consulted to determine which body is competent to change the company name. This is often the board of directors. For a single-member simplified joint-stock company, the decision is taken by the sole partner. For a limited company, the change is made by the shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting. The minutes of the meeting (or those of the sole shareholder) must contain the agreement to the change of company name, as well as an update on the new status.
Publicising the change through a legal announcement
After the meeting has been held and the minutes have been drawn up, it is necessary to publish a legal announcement in a legal gazette in the geographical area of the registered office. Here are the compulsory details to be included:
- the former company name, legal form and amount of share capital
- the trade and companies register mention, followed by the name of the city of registration
- the address of the registered office and the identification number
- the decision-making body and date of decision
- details of changes made
- the new company name
Filing the supporting documents with the business start-up centres
Once these actions have been carried out, the next step is to file supporting documents for the change of company name with a business start-up centre. These supporting documents are:
- a dated and certified copy of the minutes deciding on the change
- a dated and certified copy of the updated articles of association
- a certificate of publication in the legal gazette
- a completed M2 form (available from the administration)
The legal representative should be tasked to take these documents to the business start-up centre. He or she must also take the costs of changing the company name, either in cash or by cheque. In addition, there are still a few details and formalities that should not be forgotten after the change of company name: modifying all the documents in which the new company name is displayed (GTCs, quotations, order forms, invoices), informing clients, sponsors and partners, etc.