As a sovereign nation of high repute already committed to a wide and strong array of legislative measures relating to domestic and international criminal activity, Brunei served further notice at the outset or the Financial Centre establishment (July 1^st, 2000) that criminal abuses of its financial systems will not be tolerated.  The country took these steps voluntarily, rather than under pressure. This reflects responsible economic and social attitudes. Similarly, participation in international regulatory groups is being extended; full memberships of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Asia Pacific Group of FATF are examples.

The first tranche of BIFC legislation therefore included the Money-Laundering Order, 2000 and the Criminal Conduct (Recovery of Proceeds) Order, 2000 implemented to international standards, and later joined by the Anti-Terrorism and Financial Intelligence initiatives.  Severe Drug Trafficking legislation has been in place for some time.  Moreover, meaningful and enforceable regulation of the “Four Pillars”, Banking, Insurance, Securities and Trust and Corporate, was legislated for and established before these activities commenced.   From the outset onwards BIFC is in this regard fully committed to industry-wide regulation and supervision, with provision for investigation and mutual exchange of information to currently acceptable standards.