Applicants for licences have to satisfy the Director General of Fair Trading as to
their fitness to be granted the licence. In considering such fitness, the Director
General will take account of such matters as convictions for fraud, theft and
breaches of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (s 25 of the CCA 1974). In North Wales
Motor Auctions Ltd v Secretary of State (1981), the refusal of a licence because the
applicant was not a fit person, on account of convictions for fraud on the Inland
Revenue, was upheld. The Director General will also ensure that the applicant is
not applying to trade under a name which is misleading. In Hunter-Jaap v
Hampshire Credit Consultants Ltd (1986), it was held that a trader may be prevented
from using a name (even his own name) which, with intent to deceive, might
mislead the public into thinking that it is someone else’s business.