Friends Life FPL Ltd and AMAB Holdings are joining hands to set up AmFamily Takaful which will manufacture and sell Shariah-compliant family takaful business.

The two companies are subsidiaries of Resolution Ltd and AmBank Group respectively. Friends Life and AMAB were first conditionally granted a licence to manufacture and sell takaful business through a joint venture company in 2010.

The new company, in which Friends Life holds a 30% shareholding, has already been subject to the prescribed Malaysian regulatory start-up process and commencement of trading is subject to final approval from Bank Negara Malaysia.

The initial paid-up capital of the company will be MYR100 million (US$31.5 million), with MYR30 million from Friends Life in cash and the rest contributed by AmBank Group. The CEO of AmFamily Takaful will be Wan Zamri Wan Zain, former CEO of AIA Takaful International.

Mr John Wan Der Wielen, Managing Director International, Friends Life said: “This is an exciting development and positions us well to participate in the ongoing growth in the Asian Region.”