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Section 5: Name of society.

Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 · 1965 c. 12View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

REPEALED on 2014-08-01 by Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.

The text below is from the dated revised snapshot immediately preceding this status change. It is historical and is not current law. View the historical source.

No society shall be registered under this Act under a name which in the opinion of the FCA is undesirable.

Subject to subsection (5) of this section, the last word in the name of every society registered under this Act shall be “limited” or, if the rules of the society state that its registered office is to be in Wales, either that word or the word “cyfyngedig”.

A registered society may change its name in the following manner and in that manner only, that is to say—

by a resolution for the purpose passed at a general meeting of the society after the giving of such notice as is required by the rules of the society of such a resolution or, if the rules do not make special provision as to notice of such a resolution, after the giving of such notice as is required by the rules of a resolution to amend the rules; and
with the approval in writing of the FCA

No change in the name of a registered society shall affect any right or obligation of the society, or of any member thereof, and any pending legal proceedings may be continued by or against the society notwithstanding its new name.

If the FCA is satisfied that the objects of a society applying for registration under this Act or of a registered society are wholly charitable or benevolent, the FCA may register the society by a name which does not contain the word “limited”or the word “cyfyngedig” or, as the case may be, permit the society to change its name to one which does not contain either of those words; but if it subsequently appears to the FCA that the society, whether in consequence of a change in its rules or otherwise, is not being conducted wholly for charitable or benevolent objects, the FCA may direct that the word “limited”, or in an appropriate case the word “cyfyngedig”, be added as the last word in the name of the society and shall notify the society accordingly.

Every registered society shall cause its registered name to be painted or affixed, and to be kept painted or affixed, in a conspicuous position and in letters easily legible, on the outside of its registered office and every other office or place in which the business of the society is carried on, and shall have that name ... mentioned in legible characters—

in all notices, advertisements and other official publications of the society;
in all business letters of the society;
in all bills of exchange, promissory notes, endorsements, cheques, and orders for money or goods, purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the society;
in all bills, invoices, receipts, and letters of credit of the society.
in all its business correspondence and documentation that takes electronic form;
on all its websites.

Any officer of a registered society, or any other person acting on such a society’s behalf, who—

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
issues or authorises the issue of any document such as is mentioned in subsection (6)(a) , (d) or (e) of this section in which the society’s registered is not mentioned in legible characters; or
signs or authorises to be signed on behalf of the society any document such as is mentioned in subsection (6)(c) of this section in which that name is not so mentioned ; or
causes or authorises the appearance on the internet of a website such as is mentioned in subsection (6)(f) in which the society’s registered name is not mentioned in legible characters,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale and, in the case of a conviction by virtue of paragraph (c) of this subsection, shall further be personally liable to the holder of any such document as is referred to in that paragraph for the amount specified in the document unless that amount is duly paid by the society.

The references in this section and section 5A to a society’s websites include a reference to a section of another person’s website—

which relates to the society, and
which the society placed, or the placement of which the society authorised, on the other person’s website.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.