The logo of Zurich Insurance Group is seen at the company's headquarters in Zurich in this September 2, 2013 file photo. Zurich Insurance still expects to hit its financial targets after posting a steep drop in third-quarter profit, adding on Thursday that job cuts would be among the steps to boost its key general insurance business. The measures come after what was a difficult third quarter for the Swiss insurance giant. An aborted takeover of Britain's RSA and a profit warning stemming from $275 million in losses incurred by explosions at the Chinese port of Tianjin helped shares to their biggest quarterly fall since 2011. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/Files
KUALA LUMPUR: MAA Group Bhd
(MAAG) has submitted a joint application with Solidarity Group Holdings BSC and Zurich Insurance Co Ltd to get Bank Negara’s approval for the sale of MAA Takaful Bhd.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Monday, the financial services group said it and Solidarity proposed to sell their stakes in MAA Takaful - 75% and 25% respectively - to the Swiss insurance firm.
MAAG said the application was for the Finance Minister’s approval pursuant to the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.
On June 15, Bank Negara had said it had no objection to MAAG starting negotiations with Zurich for the proposed disposal.
However, it added that the approval should not be construed as an approval for the proposed disposal. MAAG and Zurich would still be required to get the prior approval of the Finance Minister, with the recommendation of the central bank, before entering any agreement to effect the disposal.
Solidarity Group was not mentioned in the earlier announcement.
MAA Takaful’s family takaful fund recorded a loss before taxation (LBT) of RM11.3mil for the year ended Dec 31, 2014 while its general takaful fund incurred a LBT of RM0.6mil, according to MAAG’s latest annual report.
MAAG shed half a sen to 76.5 sen at Monday’s close.
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