Hong Leong MSIG Takaful Bhd (HLMT) will exit the general takaful business, and will instead concentrate on family takaful, to comply with Islamic finance regulations in Malaysia.

According to the company, it will cease operating its general takaful business on July 01, as part of compliance with the Islamic Financial Services Act of 2013. The Act prohibits companies from operating both general and family takaful businesses, and gave companies five years to comply. Retakaful providers, however, are exempt from this rule.

As a result, HLMT will cease to be a composite takaful operator and will instead focus on family takaful, which is the Islamic equivalent of life insurance.

“With this, HLMT is confident of serving its customers better by focusing on family takaful business,” a company statement said. “The streamlining of the business and operations through this exercise is set to provide an opportunity for HLMT to grow to the next level while providing customers more value added, excellent product offerings and services.”

It also assured all existing HMLT certificate holders that their takaful certificates remain intact and will be fully honoured in line with its terms and conditions.

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