Selecting & changing a company name.

Company owners in Malaysia are required to follow company name guidelines when selecting a name for their company to avoid using words or phrases that are restricted or being identical to other companies. We have put together an overview of selecting and changing a company name in Malaysia.

Let’s jump right in.

Malaysian company name guidelines

Requirements for a Malaysian company name

The general requirements for a company name in Malaysia are the following:

• A public company must end with Berhad or
• A private company must end with Serdirian Berhad or Bhd.
• An unlimited company must end with Serdirian or
• Must use the correct spelling and grammar
• Mixing England and Bahasa Malaysia is only allowed if it can describe the business type and uses proper grammar
• If the name is in another language other than English or Bahasa English, the meaning of the word must be given
• The meaning must be given if a word is created or coined
• The name is not offensive to the members of the public or blasphemous
• The name does not resemble elements of religion
• Must not use words that are too general, such as Technology Sdn. Bhd. or International Sdn. Bhd.
• Only the names of company directors who are listed on the registration application form can be used as company names
• The use of symbols in a company name is limited to five symbols, which are:
  • & (including dan, and and N)
  • . (dot symbol)
  • – (hyphen symbol)
  • () (bracket symbol)
  • ‘ (apostrophe symbol)

Company name restrictions

There are certain names and words that are prohibited from being used in a company name. These names are:

• Names suggesting a connection with:
  • The members of the Royal family or including words such as Royal, King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Crown, Regent or Imperial
  • A State or Federal government department, statutory body, authority or government agency or a municipality or local authority, or including words such as Federal, State or National
  • Any ASEAN, Commonwealth or foreign government, the United Nations or any international organisation, or including words such as ASEAN, UNESCO, NATO, EEC or OPEC
  • Any political party, society, trade union, co-operative society or building society’
• Names including any of the following words:

  Bank	Banker
  Banking	Bumiputra
  Bureau	Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  Chamber of Manufacturers	Chartered
  College	Consumer
  Council	Credit
  Exchange	Executor
  Fair price	Finance
  Foundation	Fund
  Guarantee	Institute
  Insurance	Investment
  Leasing	Made in Malaysia
  Prime	Registry
  Treasury	Trust
  Unit Trust	University

• Names that are translations of a company or a foreign company registered under the Companies Act or the same or similar to other companies registered under the Act
• Acronyms that may be confused with existing names:

  Institutions of higher education	Federal agencies or state and government owned companies
  UiTM	SSM
  UTM	CCM
  UM	JKR
  UKM	JPM
  UUM	BNM
  USM	KPDNKK
  UIA	SEDC
  UNIMAS	PKEN
  UMS	SIRIM
  UIAM	TNB
  UPSI	PNB
  UMP	FELDA
  UMP	FELCRA
  UTEM	PETRONAS
  UNIMAP	SKM
  UTHM	MYCC
  	MIDA
  	KWSP
  	LHDN
  	PERKESO
  	MARDI
  	RISDA

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Determining identical company names

According to the Companies Commission of Malaysia’s (SSM) Guidelines on Company Names, there are certain words that must be disregarded when determining whether a company name is identical to another company:

• The in the case that it is the first word of the name
• Sendirian, Sdn, Berhad and Bhd
• Company, and company, corporation, Incorporated, Holding, Group and Malaysia if they are at the end of the company name
• The plural version of the name
• The type and case of letters, spacing and punctuation marks
• The symbol & and and

Changing the name of a company

Reasons why companies may change their name

There may be situations where companies change their names, and common reasons why they may choose to do so are as follows:

• The company went through a change of management
• The company changed its shareholding
• The company changed its business activities or business direction
• The company is rebranding

Company name change process

The process of changing a company’s name can be done by lodging an application via the SSM online system with a fee of RM 50 by the company secretary.

If the proposed company name is approved, the name will be reserved for 30 days from the date of the approval notification.

Upon approval, a general meeting should be convened to confirm the company name approval. Form 11 must then be submitted to the SSM.

The SSM will then issue Form 13, which confirms that the company’s name has been changed. 

The company name can be in both English and Bahasa Malaysian if the name uses proper grammar and can be used to describe the business. Once you have selected a company name that complies with the company name guidelines, you should have no trouble reserving and using that name. To reduce the hassle of setting up a company, you should consider engaging with Acclime’s services.