Any company that intends to establish a presence in Brunei Darussalam to conduct and offer regulated financial service activities is required to undergo the Expression of Interest (EOI) screening process conducted by BDCB as a prerequisite before formally applying for a licence from BDCB.
Note: The EOI screening process does not serve as an indication of a successful licence application. It only serves as a preliminary assessment tool to help the company in its application process.
The licence granted by BDCB will depend on the activities the company intends to carry out.
In general, BDCB regulates and supervises the following industries:
For more information, please visit the Regulatory page and Fintech Office page.
The company is required to complete a Request for Information (RFI) form for BDCB to perform a preliminary assessment of the proposed business activity.
BDCB expects the company to have performed its due diligence and understand the legal and regulatory requirements prior to submitting its EOI. An engagement with an established law firm is highly encouraged to provide the company with proper advice in understanding Brunei Darussalam's legislation and regulations.
Upon completing the preliminary assessment, BDCB may arrange a pre-application meeting with the company.
This meeting will allow the company to elaborate on the proposed business model and showcase its value proposition to Brunei Darussalam.
There are no administrative charges for submitting an EOI.
There is a cooling-off period of 3 months from the date of rejection.
It is highly recommended that interested companies enhance their due diligence and improve the respective value proposition prior to submitting the next round of EOI to BDCB.
For EOI-related matters, please email eoi[at]bdcb[dot]gov[dot]bn