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AMBD marked several important milestones last
year. In July 2020, AMBD signed two separate
partnership service agreements (PSA) with local
telecommunication service providers Datastream
Digital Sdn Bhd (DST) and Progresif Sdn Bhd.
The PSA provides the provision of the submission
of customer credit information to and from the
credit bureau established by AMBD. It also
provides access to the Credit Bureau’s Telco
Report, which contains information about
consumers’ creditworthiness and timely payment
behaviour among the telecommunication service
providers.
In August 2020, AMBD through the Financial
Intelligence Unit (FIU) made headlines as the
winner of the prestigious Best Egmont Case
Award (BECA).
The Egmont Group of FIUs was established in
1995 to fight against money laundering and
financing of terrorism through international
cooperation. Since 2011, BECA has been held
annually to recognise successful cases from
which member-FIUs can learn and to appreciate
real-life examples of cases that have been
successfully prosecuted. The award is highly
coveted among its 164 members of FIUs from all
over the world.
Last year’s competition received 24 cases from
19 member FIUs. The case in which AMBD was
chosen as a finalist was related to a trial involving
criminal breach of trust and money laundering
charges which concluded earlier in 2020.
This marks only the second time an FIU in
Southeast Asia has won this international award.
Over the years, AMBD has implemented several
policies to modernise the payment arrangements
in Brunei.
In November 2014, AMBD implemented the Real-
Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), an inter-
bank funds transfer system for large and urgent
payments. The system allows banks to transfer
funds for themselves and on behalf of customers
in real time.
Another implementation is the Automated
Clearing House (ACH) which went live in May
2016. It enables electronic clearing of cheques,
replacing the manual cheque processing system
while also enabling other electronic payments.
As the country’s central bank, AMBD places
cybersecurity of the utmost importance in the
payment industry. In December 2015, AMBD
issued the ICT Risk Management Guidelines to
banks and finance companies.
The guidelines provide a comprehensive
guidance to managing the risks associated
with technology-based systems based on
internationally recognised standards.
In addition to providing regulatory guidance for
financial institutions, AMBD also conducts on-
site and off-site assessments.
Aside from managing cybersecurity, AMBD
also focusses on the development of financial
technology (fintech) in Brunei. The AMBD FinTech
Regulatory Sandbox was established in 2017,
enabling companies and businesses to test
their fintech products in a relaxed, regulatory
environment.
The type of fintech products and services that
are suitable for the sandbox include those in the
areas of banking, capital markets and insurance
or takaful. Also eligible are areas of finance
within AMBD’s regulatory scope that has the
potential to benefit consumers.