Initial and relevant obligations

A prerequisite for the registration of a company is the selection of an appropriate name which meets the criteria of the Registrar of Companies and obtains the Registrar of Companies’ approval.

Restrictions to the approval of a name

The proposed name must not:

• be similar to names of registered organisations in the Registrar of Companies' register;
• be similar to registered trademarks without obtaining relevant consent;
• be misleading or undesirable. For example, it may not:
  • indicate any relationship with the Republic of Cyprus, the President, a Minister, Ministry, Government Department, Local Authority, organization or body which has been established by law or by the Government of any foreign country, unless it corresponds with reality;
  • include a general indication of the activity provided, or its quality or its location;
  • indicate that a company with limited recourses carries out a large scale of activities or activities in a wide area;
  • include any of the following words “National”, “International” “Republic”, “European Union”, “Europe”, “Euro”, and their respective words in the Greek language («Εθνικός», «Διεθνής», «Δημοκρατία», «Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση», «Ευρώπη», or «ευρώ») except in special instances;
  • include words “co-operative”, “municipal”, “privileged”, or “recognised”, and their respective words in the Greek language («συνεργατικός», «δημοτικός», «προνομιούχος», or «αναγνωρισμένος»);
  • include the name and/ or surname of a person other than the director, shareholder or owner except if there are reasonable grounds for their acceptance; 
  • include words or phrases, the use of which would be a criminal offence;
  • be offensive;     
  • contain specific characters, symbols and punctuation marks, such as “@”, “€”, “%”, “!”;
• include restrictive words or phrases, without obtaining the relevant consent from the competent governmental authority or authorised body. For example:
  • the word “bank” or “savings bank” or the phrases “credit institution” or “cooperative credit institution”, or their respective in the Greek language («τράπεζα», «ταμιευτήριο», «πιστωτικό ίδρυμα», or «συνεργατικό πιστωτικό ίδρυμα»), may be used only with the consent of the Central Bank;
  • the word “university”, ”polytechnic” “school”, ‘’academy’’ or ‘’college’’, or its respective in the Greek language («πανεπιστήμιο», «πολυτεχνείο» «σχολή» «ακαδημία», or «κολέγιο» ), may be used only with the consent of the Ministry of Education and Culture;
  • the words “insurance company” or “reinsurance company”, or their respective in the Greek language (“ασφαλιστική εταιρεία” or “αντασφαλιστική εταιρεία”), or variations of these, may be used only with the consent of the Superintendent of Insurance;
  • the word “casino” and its respective in the Greek language («καζίνο») may only be used with the consent of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry;
  • the words "radio" or «television», or their respective in the Greek language («ραδιόφωνο» or «τηλεόραση»), may be used only with the consent of the Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority;
  • the words or variations of the following phrases may be used only with the consent of the Central Bank of Cyprus:
    • “Payment Institution” or its respective in the Greek language ("Ίδρυμα Πληρωμών");
    • “Electronic Money Institution” or “e-money” or the respective in the Greek language ("Ίδρυμα Ηλεκτρονικού Χρήματος");
    • “Bureau de Change” or “Exchange” or the respective in the Greek language ("Ανταλλακτήριο Συναλλάγματος");
  • the word “I.E.Π.E” or “DLC” may be included at the end of the name, only after obtaining the relevant consent from the Cyprus Medical Council;
  • the word “Ο.Ε.Π.Ε” or “DELC” may be included at the end of the name, only after obtaining the relevant consent from the Cyprus Dental Council;
  • the word “Δ.Ε.Π.E” or “LLC” may be included at the end of the name, only after obtaining the relevant consent from the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus;
  • the phrase «Fixed Capital Investment Company» or «F.C.I.C.», «Variable Capital Investment Company» or «V.C.I.C.», «Alternative Investment Fund» or «AIF», «Alternative Investment Fund with Limited Number of Persons» or «AIF with Limited Number of Persons» or «AIFLNP», «Registered Alternative Investment Fund» or «RAIF»,  or its respective in the Greek language («εταιρεία επενδύσεων σταθερού κεφαλαίου» or «Ε.Ε.Σ.Κ.», «εταιρεία επενδύσεων μεταβλητού κεφαλαίου» or «Ε.Ε.Μ.Κ.» , «οργανισμός εναλλακτικών επενδύσεων» or «ΟΕΕ», «οργανισμός εναλλακτικών επενδύσεων με περιορισμένο αριθμό προσώπων» or «ΟΕΕ με περιορισμένο αριθμό προσώπων» or «ΟΕΕΠΑΠ», «Καταχωρισμένος Οργανισμός Εναλλακτικών Επενδύσεων» or «ΚΟΕΕ»), may be used only with the approval of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

Publication of the name

Every company must:

• keep written or affixed, its name on the outside of every office or place in which its business is carried on, in a conspicuous position, in letters easily legible;
• have its name engraved or painted in legible characters on its seal, business letters, official publications, invoices, receipts etc.;
• present its name on its website.

Change of Name

Following the company’s incorporation, any changes to the name of the company must be submitted to the Registrar of Companies for approval. For more details, please refer to page changing company's name.