Pat Stevens/
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has ordered KPMG Advisory Services to change its name within six weeks, citing its similarity to the long-established professional services firm, KPMG Nigeria.
In a letter dated September 19, 2025, and signed on behalf of the Registrar-General by Chidimma Laureen Nwite, the CAC admitted that the business name KPMG Advisory Services (BN 2145583), registered on October 11, 2010, was mistakenly approved despite KPMG Nigeria’s earlier registration.
The Commission warned that failure to comply with the directive would trigger enforcement action, in line with Section 30(1) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, which bars names identical or confusingly similar to existing entities.
A copy of the letter was also forwarded to Idowu Sofola & Co. for record purposes.
The directive comes months after the Court of Appeal in Lagos, in a landmark judgment delivered on July 10, 2025, nullified the CAC’s registration of KPMG Professional Services.
The appellate court unanimously upheld KPMG Nigeria’s arguments that the rival name was misleading and violated statutory safeguards for registered business identities.
Justice Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, who delivered the lead judgment, faulted the CAC for approving the name, ruling that the Commission acted contrary to CAMA provisions.
The court stressed that KPMG Nigeria had historical precedence, with its entities, including KPMG Audit (1969), KPMG Tax Consultants (1990), and KPMG Consulting, registered long before the disputed names appeared on the register.
The court dismissed claims of a merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte, which the Federal High Court had earlier relied upon in 2005 to strike out KPMG Nigeria’s case.
Justice Bayero held that no binding merger agreement existed, describing the lower court’s reliance on newspaper reports as insufficient evidence.
“The Registrar cannot assign a business name already held by another entity. One cannot give what one does not have — nemo dat quod non habet,” the court ruled, issuing a perpetual injunction against the use of “KPMG Professional Services” and ordering the CAC to cancel its registration.
The latest CAC directive against KPMG Advisory Services reinforces the appellate court’s position and signals the Commission’s effort to align with judicial pronouncements protecting KPMG Nigeria’s corporate identity.
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