Section 2

any bill of exchange or promissory note issued by any banker for the payment of money to the bearer on demand; and

any bill of exchange or promissory note so issued which entitles or is intended to entitle the bearer or holder thereof, without indorsement or without any further or other indorsement than may be thereon at the time of the issuing thereof to the payment of money on demand, whether the same be so expressed or not and in whatever form or by whomsoever the bill or note is drawn or made. A bank note issued duly stamped or issued unstamped by a banker duly licensed or otherwise authorised to issue unstamped bank notes, may be from time to time re-issued without being liable to any stamp duty by reason of the reissuing;

“bill of exchange” includes draft, order and letter of credit, and any document or writing (except a bank note or cheque) entitling or purporting to entitle any person, whether named therein or not, to payment by any other person of, or to draw upon any other person

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for, any sum of money; and the expression “bill of exchange payable on demand” includes —

an order for the payment of any sum of money by a bill of exchange or promissory note, or for the delivery of any bill of exchange or promissory note in satisfaction of any sum of money, or for the payment of any sum of money out of any particular fund which may or may not be available, or upon any condition or contingency which may or may not be performed or happen; and

an order for the payment of any sum of money weekly, monthly, or at any other stated periods, and also an order for the payment by any person at any time after the date thereof of any sum of money, and sent or delivered by the person making the same to the person by whom the payment is to be made, and not to the person to whom the payment is to be made, or to any person on his behalf;

“bill of lading” means any instrument signed by the owner of a vessel or his agent acknowledging the receipt of goods therein described and undertaking to deliver the same at a place and to a person therein mentioned or indicated or to order;

“bond” means any instrument whereby a person obliges himself to pay money to another, on condition that the obligation shall be void if a specified act or condition is performed or observed, or is not performed or observed, as the case may be;

“bottomry bond” means any instrument whereby the master of a sea-going ship borrows money on the security of the ship to enable him to preserve the ship or prosecute her voyage;

“certificate” includes any document whatever being prima facie evidence of the title of any person as proprietor of or as having the beneficial interest in any share or shares or stock or debenture stock of any company or corporation where such person is registered in respect thereof in a register duly kept in Brunei Darussalam;

“chargeable” means, as applied to an instrument executed or first executed after the commencement of this Act, chargeable under this

Act, and as applied to any other instrument chargeable under the law in force in Brunei Darussalam when such instrument was executed or, when several persons executed the instrument at different times, first executed;

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“charterparty” means any instrument whereby a vessel or some specified part thereof is let for the specified purposes of the charterer;

“cheque” means a bill of exchange drawn on a specified banker and not expressed to be payable otherwise than on demand;

“Chief Revenue Authority” means the Permanent Secretary of the

Ministry of Finance and Economy;

“Collector” means any officer whom His Majesty the Sultan and

Yang Di-Pertuan may by public notification appoint in that behalf by name or in virtue of his office;

“continuation clause” in a policy of sea insurance made for time means an agreement to the following or the like effect, namely, that in the event of the ship being at sea or the voyage otherwise not completed on the expiration of the policy, the subject matter of the insurance shall be held covered until the arrival of the ship, or for a reasonable time thereafter not exceeding 30 days;

“contract note” means the note sent by a broker or agent to his principal (except where such principal is acting as broker or agent for a principal) advising him of the sale or purchase of any stock or marketable security; and where a note advises the sale or purchase or more than one description of stock or marketable security, the note is deemed to be as many contract notes as there are descriptions of stock or security sold or purchased;

“conveyance” includes every instrument and every decree or order of

Court whereby any property (movable or immovable) or any estate or interest in any property is transferred inter vivos and which is not otherwise specifically provided for under this Act;

“duly stamped”, as applied to an instrument means —

that the instrument bears an adhesive or impressed stamp of not less than the proper amount, and that stamp has been affixed in accordance with the provisions of this Act for the time being in force at the time stamping; or

that the instrument, if stamped using the E-Stamping system, has attached to it a stamp certificate issued for the instrument by the Collector in accordance with the provisions of this Act for the time being in force at the time of stamping;

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“duty” means any stamp duty for the time being chargeable by law;

“E-Stamping system” means the computer service established under section 4A;

“executed” used with reference to instruments not under seal means signed; and “execution” so used means signature;

“impressed stamp” means a stamp impressed by means of a die over an adhesive label by the proper officer or an impression made by the proper officer by any mechanical means indicating the payment of duty and the date of such impression;

“instrument” includes every document by which any right or liability is or purports to be created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded;

“instrument of partition” means any instrument whereby co-owners of any property divide or agree to divide such property in severalty, and includes also a final order for effecting a partition passed by the

Supreme Court and an award by an arbitrator directing a partition;

“lease” means a lease of immovable property and, includes —

any undertaking in writing to cultivate, occupy, or pay or deliver rent for, immovable property;

any instrument by which tolls, rents or profits of any description are let to farm;

any writing on an application for a lease intended to signify that the application is granted;

“marketable security” means a security of such a description as to be capable of being sold or negotiated in open market in Brunei

Darussalam;

“money” includes all sums whether expressed in the currency of

Brunei Darussalam or in any other currency;

“mortgage” means a security by way of mortgage for the payment of any definite and certain sum of money advanced or lent at the time, or previously due or forborne to be paid, being payable, or for the repayment of money to be thereafter lent, advanced or paid, or which may become due upon an account current, together with any sum

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already advanced or due, or without, as the case may be; and includes —

any conveyance of any property in trust to be sold or otherwise converted into money intended only as a security and redeemable before the sale or other disposal thereof either by express stipulation or otherwise;

any instrument in writing for defeating or making redeemable or explaining or qualifying any conveyance of property apparently absolute but intended only as a security;

any agreement for a mortgage or any agreement, contract or bond accompanied with a deposit of title deeds for making a mortgage of any property or for pledging or charging the same as a security;

“paper” includes every material upon which words or figures can be expressed;

“policy of insurance” includes —

any instrument by which one person in consideration of a premium engages to indemnify another against loss, damage or liability arising from an unknown or contingent event;

a life policy and any policy insuring any person against accident or sickness or any other personal insurance;

“policy of sea insurance” means any insurance (including re-insurance) made upon any ship or vessel (whether for marine or inland navigation) or upon the machinery, tackle or furniture of any ship or vessel or upon any goods, merchandise or property of any description whatever on board of any ship or vessel or upon the freight of or any other interest which may be lawfully insured in or relating to any ship or vessel; and includes any insurance of goods, merchandise or property for any transit which includes, not only a sea risk as above, but also any other risk incidental to the transit insured from the commencement of the transit to the ultimate destination covered by the insurance. Where any person, in consideration of any sum of money paid or to be paid for additional freight or otherwise, agrees to take upon himself any risk attending goods, merchandise or property of any description whatever while on board of any ship or vessel, or engages to indemnify the owner of such goods merchandise or property from any risk, loss or damage,

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such agreement or engagement is deemed to be a contract for sea insurance;

“promissory note” includes any document or writing (except a bank note) containing a promise to pay any sum of money; a note promising the payment of any sum of money out of any particular fund which may or may not be available or upon any condition or contingency which may or may not be performed or happen is to be deemed a promissory note for that sum of money;

“property” includes movable and immovable property and any estate in any property movable or immovable and any debt and anything in action and any other right or interest in the nature of property whether in possession or not;

“proper officer” means the collector and such other officer as may be authorised by him to impress stamps or to issue stamp certificates;

“receipt” includes any note, memorandum or writing —

whereby any money, or any bill of exchange, cheque or promissory note is acknowledged to have been received; or

whereby any other movable property is acknowledged to have been received in satisfaction of a debt; or

whereby any debt or demand or any part of a debt or demand is acknowledged to have been satisfied or discharged; or which signifies or imports any such acknowledgement and whether the same is or is not signed with the name of any person;

“registered person” means a person approved under section 4A to be a registered user of the E-Stamping system;

“respondentia bond” means any instrument securing a loan on the cargo laden or to be laden on board a ship and making repayment contingent on the arrival of the cargo at the port of destination;

“settlement” means any non-testamentary disposition in writing whether made voluntarily or upon a good or valuable consideration other than a bona fide pecuniary consideration whereby any definite and certain property is settled or agreed to be settled in any manner for any purpose whatsoever;

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“ship or chinchew receipt” means any instrument signed by an officer or chinchew of a vessel acknowledging the receipt of goods therein described when a bill of lading is not given;

“stamp certificate” mean a certificate that is issued electronically in respect of any instrument chargeable with duty denoting the amount of duty payable in respect of that instrument or that the duty otherwise chargeable in respect of that instrument is remitted;

“stock” includes any share in the capital stock or funded debt of any corporation, company or society in Brunei Darussalam or elsewhere, and stocks and funds of the Government of Brunei Darussalam or any other Government;

“warrant for goods” means any document or writing, being evidence of the title of any person therein named or his assigns or the holder thereof, to the property in any goods, wares or merchandise lying in any warehouse or dock or upon any wharf, and signed or certified by or on behalf of the person having the custody of the goods, wares or merchandise.