Country Manual Private Banking –
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM OUT OF BANK’S COUNTRY OF ESTABLISHMENT (Def, RS, BT & RT)
Regulatory Template
Material changes
Following consultations with our local counsel, we have reviewed and updated the documents to take into account an evolving interpretation of the regulatory framework.
– Prospecting phases: One of the triggering elements of Bruneian financial regulation is the “solicitation of making a deposit”. Therefore, presenting the Bank and providing the Bank’s annual report, press reviews and marketing brochures risks triggering a licensing requirement if conducted on an active basis. Therefore, such activities are now prohibited.
– Negotiation phase: Actively undertaking pre-contractual financial activities in or into Brunei may fall within the scope of “regulated activity”. With respect to an account opening form, upon a prospect’s request, the Bruneian authorities seem to tolerate some low-level profile pre-contractual banking activities and negotiation activities in (occasionally) or into Brunei, if the ensuing financial services are performed outside of Brunei (i.e. offshore transactions). However, due to the broad definition of the regulated activity “managing securities”, pre-contractual activities and negotiation of asset management services should be avoided on Bruneian territory even upon a prospect’s request.
– Generic Advice: Actively providing generic advice in or into Brunei may fall within the scope of a “regulated activity”. Due to the broad definition of the regulated activity “managing securities”, generic investment advice, such as research material and generic recommendation lists should be avoided on Bruneian territory even upon a client’s request.
Implications for business relations with third parties
There have been no substantial changes to the answers when a foreign bank co-operates with third parties.
Non-material changes
Several comments have been slightly reworded (without introducing material changes) to reflect the regulatory situation/current interpretation of the regulatory framework more accurately.
Regulatory Summary
This document has now a more user-friendly layout and reflects the changes contained in the RT.
Behaviour Template
The answers in the BT have been aligned to those contained in the RT.
BT Short Comparison
BRP has created a comparison document allowing users to quickly identify the modifications made compared to the previous version of the PB Manual (BT Short Comparison). The BT Short Comparison can be found on BRP’s platform (mybrponline) in the Search tab by entering in the Document Field “CM PB BT SHORT COMP” and “Brunei Darussalam” in the Target Country Field.
The BT Short Comparison should be read as follows:
The first column contains a short description of the activity in question. The second column contains the answers of the previous version of the Country Manual (online until the day of the alert). The third column contains the new answers of the most recent version of the Country Manual. Only the modified answers are displayed (in color). If the answers in the new version are unchanged compared to the previous version, they are shaded in grey.
Best regards,