The first step of registration is the reservation of the company’s name. One of the promoters should submit a signed Name Reservation Form to the Department of Commercial Reservation of the MOC. The promoter should provide the intended company name, together with two alternative names.
The reason for the provision of alternative names is that the registrar will check that no similar company names have been reserved and that submitted names don’t violate any ministerial rules. n the event of a conflict, the alternative names will be considered. If all three names are rejected, the promoter will need to re-submit the form with three new names. t is again worth noting that names are frequently rejected for the violation of one or both of the above reasons.
What is the Memorandum of Association (MOA)?
The MOA is a legal document which must be submitted after the reservation of the company name is complete.
The MOA must contain:
- The name and address of the proposed company
- The objectives of the company
- A declaration of limitation of shareholders’ liability
- The amount of share capital and the value per share
- The names, addresses, occupations and signatures of all promoters and the number of shares subscribed by all of them
** Note that the MOA must contain the physical address of the company. A PO Box address is not acceptable and will be rejected.
Other important considerations with regard to addresses are that if the company, at some later stage, needs to obtain a VAT Certificate, it will need the written permission of the owner of the building in which the company is located. Bear in mind, if the building is a residential space, permission from the owner may well not be forthcoming. Some condominium buildings also specifically forbid the use of condominium units from being used as a business.