Currently, there are 9 takaful operators competing to capture the market in Malaysia. In the last 6 months the insurance/takaful industry has been notified that Bank Negara Malaysia is considering to offer 2 more new takaful licenses. However, the criteria for the new operators is much stringent compare to the previously. I was told that the paid capital requirement is much larger than the existing requirement, ie. RM100 million. Any investor who can impress Bank Negara with huge capital may stand a better chance for the license. Besides, the new operator must convince the regulator that they can provide cutting edge technology and outstanding expertise to Malaysia and perhaps bring Malaysia for global arena. This is in tandem with the Malaysia Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) aspiration to position the country as the Islamic Financial Hub. Thus, company with international or global exposure and link may be preferred by regulator. If I can recall, Bank Negara has set 20% market share for the Islamic institutions by end of 2010 therefore the right players must be selected which can boost the takaful market share by Dec 2010.
Based on rumors, media, and friends, applications for takaful licenses came from Great Eastern, Manulife, AmAssurance and several others which I can't verify the authenticity of the information. Surprisingly, Bank Negara has postponed the announcement of the result to year end meaning that the regulator has yet to firm up their decision. Whatever it is, we hope that the outcome is based on fair and prudent judgement by Bank Negara without any unwanted influence by any parties whether internal or external.
