ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Registration of Business Names Act
4. Firms, individuals and corporations to be registered
Edition: 2022-12-31 · In force
4. Firms, individuals and corporations to be registered
Subject to this Act—(a)every firm having a place of business in Kenya and carrying on business under a business name which does not consist of the surnames of all individuals who are partners and the corporate names of all corporations which are partners, without any addition other than the forenames of individual partners or the initials of such forenames; and(b)every individual having a place of business in Kenya and carrying on business under a business name which does not consist of his surname without any addition other than his forenames or the initials thereof; and(c)every individual or firm having a place of business in Kenya, who, or a member of which, has either before or after the commencement of this Act changed his name, otherwise than, in the case of a woman, in consequence of marriage; and(d)every corporation having a place of business in Kenya and carrying on business under a business name that is not its corporate name without any addition is required to be registered as provided by this Act, except that—(i)if two or more individual partners have the same surname, the addition of an "s" at the end of that surname does not of itself render registration necessary;(ii)if the business is carried on by a bankruptcy trustee or an administrator appointed by the court, registration is not necessary; and(iii)a purchase or acquisition of property by two or more persons as joint tenants or tenants in common does not of itself constitute the carrying on of a business, even if the owner shares any profits from the sale of the property.