Brunei to cease issuing, circulation of biggest currency notes

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Xinhua): Brunei's central bank said the issuing and circulation of the 10,000-Brunei-dollar currency notes (about US$7,334.3), the country's biggest denomination currency, will be ceased.

According to the Borneo Bulletin daily on Thursday (Oct), Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) said effective from Nov 2 the 10,000-Brunei-dollar currency notes will no longer be issued to all banks in Brunei and subsequently, will be withdrawn from circulation.

"However, the 10,000-Brunei-dollar currency notes will remain legal tender and will retain full face value," AMBD said in a statement.

"The decision to withdraw the currency notes is one of the steps taken by AMBD to reduce the risks associated with financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorism financing and counterfeiting of high denominations currency notes," AMBD added.

AMBD also encouraged the public to use various alternative payment methods available in Brunei such as debit or credit cards and online payments for high-value transactions.