Malaysia: BNM's shariah arm issues new rulings for takaful and retakaful
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Nov 2018
The Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has issued new rulings for the takaful and retakaful industry following its 187th meeting in late August. The SAC has decided that the application of musyarakah contract between a retakaful operator and takaful operator in managing the expense strain of the latter arising from the implementation of ‘minimum allocation rate’ requirement is permissible, subject to the following conditions:
- The musyarakah capital contribution especially in the form of cash, shall not be treated and accounted as an upfront wakala fee as such treatment is inconsistent with the nature of a musyarakah contract;
- The musyarakah capital shall be ring-fenced and shall not commingle with other capital in the shareholders’ fund; and other funds especially the tabarru` fund;
- Determination of profit and loss from the musyarakah must reflect the actual profit and loss of the identified portfolio, which must be ring-fenced from other portfolios; and
- The in-kind musyarakah capital (if any) must be valued in monetary terms at the inception of the musyarakah contract.
Musyarakah is a partnership between two or more parties, whereby all contracting parties contribute capital to the musyarakah venture and share the profit and loss from the partnership.
- The capital of a musyarakah (capital) shall be identifiable, readily available and accessible.
- The capital may be in the form of cash or in-kind, including intangible assets.
- Where the capital is in-kind, it shall be valued in monetary terms either by agreement between the partner or by a third party, which may include experts, valuers, or any other qualified person, at the time of entering into the musyarakah contract.
The profit calculation is based on the amount in excess of the initial musyarakah capital. The profit and loss of musyarakah contract will be determined based on the distribution of surplus and deficit of the portfolio under musyarakah.
The portfolio under musyarakah will be placed in a dedicated tabarru` fund that is managed separately from the tabarru` fund of other takaful portfolios.
The takaful portfolio under musyarakah will be fully ring-fenced and recorded separately from accounting perspectives. In this regard, there is no commingling and cross-subsidisation between the tabarru` fund under the musyarakah and other tabarru` funds. M