Anika obtains the inaugural Takaful Broker Licence

Anika Insurance Brokers Sdn. Bhd. (Anika) has just been issued the inaugural Takaful Broker Licence, running from 1 November 2005 to 31 October 2006, in a letter from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) dated 28 October 2005.
The initiative to license takaful brokers and adjusters was announced by BNM earlier this year in their press statement as a measure to further strengthen the institutional infrastructure of the takaful industry and accelerate the expansion of takaful business in the country. With this new licensing measure, the level of professionalism and competence of the takaful intermediaries would be elevated.

This move was also initiated to be in line with the objectives of the Malaysian Financial Sector Masterplan to create an efficient, progressive and comprehensive Islamic financial system and reinforce takaful as one of the key components of the Malaysian financial system.

This licensing calls for very specific and stringent requirements on the brokers’ part. In order to qualify, BNM stipulates that insurance brokers must transact at least RM1 million takaful contributions in the previous calendar year or have combined takaful and insurance contributions of at least RM30 million, of which takaful contributions accounts for more than RM0.5 million of the combined amount. In addition, the insurance broker must have a minimum paid-up share capital unimpaired by losses of RM0.6 million and professional indemnity cover of at least RM1 million net of deductible. There are also other stringent operational criteria that a broker must comply with before they are even allowed to apply.

With this new licence, Anika now stands out and further segregates itself from the rest as a serious and financially strong player in the local insurance broking industry.

The takaful broking licence certificate issued by BNM can be viewed here.