Company registration in Brunei Darussalam is handled by the Registry of Companies and Business Names (ROCBN), a division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (Kementerian Kewangan dan Ekonomi). Since the migration of registry services to the One Common Portal (OCP), incorporation, business-name registration, annual filings and the free public search all run through that single online system.

The company registry in Brunei Darussalam

Two names circulate for the same thing, so it is worth separating them. ROCBN is the registry authority; the One Common Portal is the platform through which it operates. The public entry point is ocp.mofe.gov.bn, with transactional services under eservices.ocp.mofe.gov.bn. The Ministry reconfirmed that address in a public notice dated 11 August 2026 after users reported reaching the wrong URL. The legacy domain roc.gov.bn, still printed on some older brochures, no longer resolves, and the former ROCBN pages on the ministry website were removed during a site migration — a point worth knowing before trusting any secondary guide that still links to them.

The governing statute is the Companies Act (Chapter 39), in the consolidated 2021 text, most recently amended by the Companies Act (Amendment) Order 2020, which came into force on 31 October 2020. There is no Companies Act or Companies Order of 2024 or later: the Attorney General’s Chambers amendment table ends at the 2020 order, and a ministry brochure issued in October 2025 still cites Chapter 39 as the operative law. Trading names used by individuals and partnerships fall under a separate statute, the Business Names Act (Chapter 92).

One caveat on terminology. The Malay-language title of the registry cannot currently be verified on any live official page, because the Malay ROCBN pages were taken down in the migration; the portal itself now uses only the abbreviation ROCBN.

The register is substantial for a country of Brunei’s size: the public search held roughly 156,000 entity records when checked in August 2026.

Legal forms that can be registered in Brunei

The portal’s own entity taxonomy distinguishes business names, private companies, public companies, foreign branches, statutory bodies and cooperatives. In practical terms:

  • Private company limited by shares (Sendirian Berhad, Sdn Bhd) — the standard trading vehicle under Chapter 39. Members’ liability is limited to the unpaid amount on their shares, membership is capped at 50, and the name must carry the Sdn Bhd ending.
  • Public company limited by shares (Berhad) — may exceed 50 members and may offer shares to the public. Public companies are additionally subject to the Companies (Corporate Governance) (Public Companies) Rules 2016.
  • Company limited by guarantee — members guarantee a fixed sum payable on winding up, the usual form for associations and non-profit bodies. The registry’s own annual-return guidance treats it as a public company, and the portal offers no separate entity type for it.
  • Foreign company branch — registration of an existing overseas company under sections 107 to 109 of Chapter 39. The branch is not a separate legal person, so liability rests with the foreign parent.
  • Sole proprietorship — a business name registration under Chapter 92, not an incorporation. The owner carries unlimited personal liability, and no Sdn Bhd suffix is used.
  • Partnership — likewise a business-name registration, with partners jointly and severally liable. ROCBN offers no limited liability partnership form.

Two further points require honesty about the limits of the record. The unlimited company is provided for in Chapter 39 but cannot be confirmed as a currently offered registration type — it appears neither in the portal’s entity list nor in any live registry guidance. And the International Business Company (IBC) regime under the International Business Companies Order 2000 has been wound down in practice: the central bank reports that 6,292 IBCs were struck off, 1,486 migrated to other jurisdictions, and only 13 remain, all government-owned or government-linked and destined for re-registration or migration, with 11 registered agents having surrendered their licences. The regulator states only that the process for repealing the legislation has commenced, and the order is still hosted as a live text, so a formal repeal is not confirmable.

Registration numbers for business names follow a “P” plus eight digits pattern, observable in the public register. The numbering format used for companies is not confirmable, because the free search returns business-name records only.

Public and restricted data in the Brunei register

The free public search returns, for each record, the entity name, registration number, registration date, status, entity type and full registered address down to village, mukim, district and postcode. That is a genuinely useful identity check, and it is open to anyone without a login.

What it does not return is people. Directors, shareholders and officers are not shown in the public search; fuller particulars require a paid request-for-information service from a logged-in account. Beneficial ownership is not public at all. The relevant instrument is the Companies (Register of Controllers and Nominee Directors) Rules 2020, read with the Companies Act (Amendment) Order 2020 and the Fifteenth Schedule to Chapter 39, which lists exemptions such as government-owned entities. Companies maintain and update a register of controllers through the portal for the registry’s review, but no official route makes that data publicly searchable.

Financial statements are also largely outside the public record. A first annual general meeting must be held within 18 months of incorporation and then annually, not more than 15 months apart, with the annual return filed within 28 days of the meeting and in any event within the two-month statutory outer limit. Private companies must be audited but do not file their accounts with the registry; public companies and foreign branches do file audited accounts. Dormant companies still file returns, and no extension of the annual-return deadline is available.

A residency rule shapes board composition: a private company needs at least two directors, and where there are exactly two, one must be ordinarily resident in Brunei; where there are more than two, at least two must be ordinarily resident.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Certificate of Incorporation — issued by the registry on approval and delivered through the portal; evidence of legal existence, company name and date of incorporation, used for banking, licensing and contracting.
  • Company Extract — issued together with the certificate and available on request thereafter, showing the company’s current registered particulars. This is the document normally meant by a “company search”.
  • Business Name Extract and Certificate of Registration — the equivalents for sole proprietorships and partnerships registered under Chapter 92.
  • Annual Return — the filed return, retrievable from the entity’s filing history in the portal.
  • Document verification — documents issued through the portal can be authenticated by a third party through a public verification page, which matters for counterparties receiving an electronic certificate.

Anyone drafting a document checklist for Brunei should note one gap: a Certificate of Good Standing and certified true copies of the memorandum and articles of association are not confirmable on any official source. Neither appears in the portal’s service catalogue or in current registry publications, so they should not be assumed available without direct confirmation from ROCBN.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official company register in Brunei?

The Registry of Companies and Business Names (ROCBN), a division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, operating through the One Common Portal at ocp.mofe.gov.bn.

Is the Brunei company search free?

Yes. The public search on the portal is open without a login and returns the entity name, number, registration date, status, type and registered address. Detailed extracts require a paid, logged-in request.

Are directors and shareholders public in Brunei?

No. The free public search does not return officers, directors or shareholders; those particulars are obtained through a paid information request.

Does Brunei have a public beneficial ownership register?

No. Companies keep a register of controllers under the 2020 rules and submit it through the portal for the registry, but there is no public access.

Do Brunei companies file financial statements?

Private companies must be audited but do not file accounts with the registry. Public companies and foreign branches file audited accounts, and all entities, including dormant ones, file an annual return.

Do Brunei companies need a local director?

Yes. A private company needs at least two directors; with two, one must be ordinarily resident in Brunei, and with more than two, at least two must be ordinarily resident.

Are Brunei international business companies still available?

In practice no. The regime has been wound down, with only a handful of government-linked entities left and repeal of the legislation reported as commenced, though a formal repeal cannot be confirmed.

Sources

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