The Central Bank of Bahrain has granted licenses to Legal & General Gulf and Legal & General Gulf Takaful.

The two new companies will offer life insurance and takaful services in Bahrain and the broader Middle East. 

The two companies will be established with a total paid up capital of BD10 million, which will be contributed equally by British Insurer Legal & General Group and Ahli United Bank.

The shareholders plan to offer customers in the Middle East a wide range of products and services, including both traditional and takaful life insurance. The two companies will market their products initially through AUB’s existing branches in the region.

Legal & General Group is one of the largest financial service providers in the UK and has vast experience in the field of insurance. Established in 1836, and with more than 5.7 million customers in the UK, Legal & General  has been recently rated AA+ by Standard & Poor’s.

Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Bassam, director of licensing and policy at the Central Bank of Bahrain, said: “The Middle East insurance sector continues to attract a lot of interest from international firms and many of these firms have opened regional offices in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The supervisory framework, brought into effect in 2005 by the CBB and Bahrain’s well developed infrastructure, strategic location and the availability of local professions, have been major factors in attracting reputable companies such as L&G to the kingdom.” – TradeArabia News Service