Charities Act 1994 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 4 · Registration of Charities and Provisions for Inquiring Into Charities
9. Power of Commissioner to require change of charity’s name
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The Commissioner may, with respect to a charity to which this subsection applies, give a direction requiring the name of the charity to be changed, within the period specified in the direction, to any other name that the governing board members may determine with the Commissioner’s approval.
Commissioner
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Charities appointed under section 3;
Subsection (1) applies to a charity if —
charity
“charity” means any institution, corporate or not, which is established for charitable purposes and is subject to the control of the General Division of the High Court in exercise of the jurisdiction of the General Division of the High Court with respect to charities;
it is a registered charity and its name (called in this Act the registered name) is the same as, or is in the Commissioner’s opinion too like, the name, at the time when the registered name was entered in the register in respect of the charity, of any other charity (whether registered or not);
the name of the charity is in the Commissioner’s opinion likely to mislead the public as to the true nature of —
the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing instruments; or
the activities which the charity carries on under its governing instruments in pursuit of those purposes;
the name of the charity includes any word or expression which in the Commissioner’s opinion is likely to mislead the public in any respect as to the status of the charity;
the name of the charity is in the Commissioner’s opinion likely to give the impression that the charity is connected in some way with the Government or any public authority, or with any other body of persons or any individual, when it is not so connected; or
the name of the charity is in the Commissioner’s opinion offensive,and any reference in this subsection to the name of a charity is, in relation to a registered charity, a reference to the name by which it is registered.
Any direction given by virtue of subsection (2)(a) must be given within 12 months of the time when the registered name was entered in the register in respect of the charity.
Any direction given under this section with respect to a charity must be given to the governing board members; and on receiving any such direction the governing board members must give effect to it despite anything in the governing instruments of the charity.
governing board members
“governing board members” means members of the governing body of a charity or trustees for a charity having the general control and management of the administration of the charity;
Where the name of any charity is changed under this section, it is the duty of the governing board members to notify the Commissioner, within 7 days after the change or such longer period as the Commissioner may allow, of the new name of the charity and of the date on which the change occurred.
A change of name by a charity under this section does not affect any rights or obligations of the charity; and any legal proceedings that might have been continued or commenced by or against it in its former name may be continued or commenced by or against it in its new name.
Any reference in this section to the governing board members of a charity is, in relation to a charity which is a company, to be read as a reference to the directors of the company.
company
“company” means a company incorporated or registered under any law in force in Singapore or elsewhere;
Where any direction is given under this section with respect to a charity which is a company, the direction is taken to require the directors of the company to take the necessary steps to effect the change of the name of the company, including applying to the Registrar of Companies for the reservation and approval of the new name under section 27 or 378 of the Companies Act 1967, as the case may be.
Nothing in this section applies to an exempt charity.[7