BNM issues 4 family takaful licences

Following the announcement made at the end of April 2009 on the issuance of two family takaful licences under liberalisation of the financial services sector, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) received several strong applications for the family takaful licences and has decided to
approve four takaful joint ventures involving:

i)     AIA Bhd (70%) and Aliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (30%)
ii)    AMMB Holdings Bhd (70%) and Friends Provident Group pls UK (30%)
iii)   ING Management Holdings Sdn Bhd (60%), Public Bank Bhd (20%) and Public Islamic 
       Bank Bhd (20%)
iv)   The Great Eastern Life Assrance Co Ltd (70%) and Koperasi Angkatan Tentera Malaysia
       Bhd (30%)

Previously there were 8 existing takaful operators in Malaysia, namely CIMB Aviva Takaful Bhd, Etiqa Takaful Bhd, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Bhd, HSBC Amanah Takaful sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Bhd, Prudential BSN Takaful Bhd, Sykt Takaful Malaysia Bhd and Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd.

An industry observer lauded BNM move. With more takaful players coming in, competition will be steeper but customers can enjoy better pricing for the takaful products.

The penetration for takaful in Malaysia is around 10% compared with oventional insurance which stands at around 40%.

StarBiz 2/9/2010