Lloyd's of London 'in talks with regulators' to open Malaysian Islamic insurance office

Lloyd's is in talks with market regulators in Malaysia to set up an office dedicated to takaful. The planned office will also enable Lloyd's to target Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which together with Malaysia are the largest global markets for Islamic insurance, the marketplace's director of global markets, Vincent Vandendael, said. Lloyd's opened an office in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) earlier this year. Lloyd's has historically provided cross-border reinsurance in Malaysia as a foreign reinsurer, but also has a 'tier 2' licence allowing its syndicates to set up service companies in the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC).