Section 27 — Use of names: exceptions based on national security etc

After section 1199 of the Companies Act 2006 insert—Exceptions based on national security etc1199A (1) The Secretary of State may, by written notice given to a person, provide that a prohibition imposed by this Chapter does not apply in relation to the carrying on of a business by that person under a name specified in the notice, if satisfied that to do so is necessary— (a) in the interests of national security, or (b) for the purposes of preventing or detecting serious crime. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)— (a) “crime” means conduct which— (i) constitutes a criminal offence, or (ii) is, or corresponds to, any conduct which, if it all took place in any one part of the United Kingdom, would constitute a criminal offence, and (b) crime is “serious” if— (i) the offence which is or would be constituted by the conduct is an offence for which the maximum sentence (in any part of the United Kingdom) is imprisonment for 3 years or more, or (ii) the conduct involves the use of violence, results in substantial financial gain or is conduct by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose.