When Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) removed the cap on digital insurer and takaful operator (DITO) licences in July 2024, the reading in the market was almost unanimous: the floodgates were about to open. The regulator had signalled five licences back in November 2022. Now it was saying it would license whoever met the requirements, however many that turned out to be. Bank Negara has not published how many applications it has received, and it does not comment on individual applicants, so nobody outside Sasana Kijang can give you a number. But if you spend your time in this sector, as…
Author: Daud Vicary Abdullah, Managing Director, DVA Consulting Sdn Bhd
Author
Daud Vicary Abdullah, Managing Director, DVA Consulting Sdn Bhd
Daud Vicary Abdullah is Managing Director of DVA Consulting Sdn Bhd, the Islamic finance advisory firm he founded in 2008. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of INCEIF, The Global University of Islamic Finance, from 2011 to 2017, and Global Islamic Finance Leader at Deloitte from 2009 to 2011. He was the first Managing Director of Hong Leong Islamic Bank, where he was also a board member of Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful, and served as Chief Operating Officer and acting Chief Executive Officer of Asian Finance Bank. A former board member of AAOIFI (2003–2007), he is a Distinguished Fellow of IBFIM and a Chartered Islamic Finance Professional, and co-author of Islamic Finance: Why It Makes Sense. He has worked in finance and consulting for more than four decades, focusing exclusively on Islamic finance since 2002, and holds a degree in Economic and Social History from the University of Bristol.