With a strong Islamic banking sector, a growing Islamic insurance (takaful) industry and an expanding market for Islamic bonds (sukuk), Brunei Darussalam has recently been drawing much attention internationally as a center for Islamic financial services (IFS). Indeed, Brunei Darusslam is now amongst the nine countries worldwide where Islamic finance has reached systemic importance – places...
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Chapter | Islamic Financial Services from The Report: Brunei Darussalam 2016
The Sultanate’s small but solid banking sector has been going through some significant changes in recent times. Consolidation has led to fewer lenders, a process that is likely to continue, while at the same time those banks that do remain are some of the best resourced in the region. Indeed, Brunei Darussalam’s banks have high levels of liquidity, good capital adequacy ratios and well-managed...
Commanding the second-highest GDP per capita of all ASEAN nations, at $40,979 in 2014, Brunei Darussalam remains one of the most advanced economies in the South-east Asian region. This is in large part due to the Sultanate’s well-developed energy sector; however, with oil and gas prices falling substantially from mid-2014, new efforts are being made to increase the efficiency of production and diversify the economy to ensure future stability and sustainability.
Malaysia’s insurance and takaful, or Islamic insurance, sector has recorded consistent growth in recent years. In 2015 total assets of both combined expanded by 5.6% to RM264bn ($65.3bn). Within the life insurance and family takaful sector, the growth of takaful contributions has been notable, accounting for almost 18% of new premiums and contributions. Insurance and takaful provide an...
Chapter | Capital Markets from The Report: Malaysia 2016
Amidst a mixed earnings performance around the world in 2015, Malaysia’s capital market posted modest growth over the course of the year. The sector grew by 2.1% in 2015, according to the Securities Commission Malaysia, the capital market regulator, to reach RM2.82trn ($698bn) by the end of the year, which was 2.5 times the size of the economy. Bursa Malaysia, the nation’s stock exchange,...
Chapter | Banking & IFS from The Report: Malaysia 2016
Although funding conditions in Malaysia are tightening due to prudential considerations and heightened macroeconomic risks, the banking system as a whole remains profitable, liquid and well capitalised. The country’s 27 domestic and foreign banking institutions are amongst the most dynamic in the region, serving clients at home as well as the wider South-east Asia region. An early adopter of...