| (1) | No friendly society shall be registered under a name identical with that under which any other society has already been registered or under a name so closely resembling such a name as in the opinion of the Authority to be likely to mislead. |
| (2) | Whenever the Authority has under consideration applications for registration from two or more societies bearing identical names or names so closely resembling each other as in his opinion to be likely to mislead, he shall register under the name under which application for registration has been made — |
| (a) | where only one of the applications was lodged with the Authority — |
| (i) | in the case of societies which were in existence at the commencement of this Act, within six months after such commencement; or |
| (ii) | in the case of societies established after such commencement, within six months after the date on which they were established, |
the society in respect of which the application was so lodged;
| (b) | where two or more of the applications were so lodged, the society which adopted the name under which it has applied for registration before any of the other societies concerned had adopted the name under which such other society has so applied; and |
| (c) | where none of the applications was so lodged, the society whose application was first lodged with the Authority; |
and if any of the societies concerned has been so registered, none of the remaining societies shall be registered except under a name which the Authority has approved.
| (3) | The provisions of subsections (2), (3) and (4) of section 30 of the Banks Act, 1965 (Act No. 23 of 1965), shall mutatis mutandis apply in relation to any change in the name of a society under this section as if the society were a banking institution within the meaning of that Act and as if the change had effected a transfer of the assets and liabilities of the society to another society known by the name under which the registration of the society has been effected. |
[Section 6(3) amended by section 21 of Act No. 103 of 1979]
