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On the other hand, it can be seen that the volume of General Takaful was TRY 380 million in the
year 2014 and became more than TRY 2 billion in year 2018. Alongside, there was 6-7 times
increase in year 2018 compared to year 2014 and notable growth 70.1% in year 2018. The main
driver of the growth is entrance of new players in the market. A similar strong growth effect is
expected after licencing of the newly registered General Takaful companies. The Family Takaful
is relatively small compared to General Takaful. It was only around TRY 3.37 million in year
2014 while General Takaful was TRY 380 million.
Since Turkey is a secular country, Islamic finance is not separated from its legislative structure
so the legal and regulatory institutions. Its legal and regulative framework covers the financial
sector in three main groups - banking, capital market, and insurance - and for each group,
generally, there is only one primary regulator. Hence, legal and regulatory bodies are typical for
both conventional and Islamic finance. The legal and regulatory environment is separated into
two in the dual insurance system economies. However, the Turkish insurance market may not
be considered as a dual system since the legal and regulatory environment has one standard
insurance act.
As in case of Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, after analysing the overall Turkish Takaful market, some
lessons can be learnt that may support in further growth and development of the industry in the
country, e.g. the emphasis on compliance and governance, strong support of the government
with long-term strategies for expanding the market, attracting new players to invest in Takaful
industry, and improvement of the legal framework.
The United Kingdom
The insurance market in the UK is considered to be the largest in Europe and the fourth largest
in the world. Apart from the gains registered in the domestic insurance market, one unique
feature of the UK's insurance market is the global role it plays, as an exporter of insurance
services to other countries.
With regards to Takaful, there have not been proactive steps by the government to promote this
faith-based insurance model. However, the government through the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills explored the possibility of introducing an alternative student finance
scheme, specifically for students whose religious beliefs forbid them from taking interest-
bearing student loans.
Just like the other aspects of the Islamic financial services industry in the UK, the Takaful sector
is regulated under the existing legal and regulatory framework for insurers and reinsurers. The
insurance industry, as well as the Takaful sector, are governed by the Financial Services and
Markets Act 2000 as amended, and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated
Activities) Order 2001.