Diversification of Islamic Financial Insturments
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cooperative like insurance companies owned domestic capital (Undersecretariat of Treasury
2016).
There had been no regulations specific to Takaful in Turkey until Turkish Treasury made
regulation regarding Takaful sector in September, 2017. “Regulation on Working Procedures
and Principles of Participation Insurance” (Takaful) that was published on 20.09.2017 in the
Official Gazette. The purpose of the Regulation is to regulate the procedures and principles
regarding the participation insurance activity in terms of operation, development and proper
follow-up of the takaful system.
Prior to Regulation, takaful companies were subject to the same rules with conventional
insurers in Turkey. After the Regulation, takaful companies are subject to the different rules
related to takaful, such as segregation of funds, surplus distribution, establishing Shariah
Board etc. However, in the cases where there is no provision in the Regulation, the relevant
provisions of the insurance legislation will be applied for takaful sector.
Moreover, prior to Regulation, Turkish jurisdiction did not oblige any specific takaful model
such as separate company model or window model. However, according to the Regulation,
window takaful model is limited 3 years as from publication date of the Regulation.
The Takaful sector has made some progress in recent years in Turkey. The Tables below on
Takaful Companies and Shares of GW Premiums provide information about number of Takaful
providers.
Summary of Takaful Segment in Turkey
 There is good potential for Shariah-compliant insurance with predominantly Muslim
population in Turkey. However, Takaful has a minimum presence in the Turkish
market at present.
 Currently, eight takaful companies (four of them from general side and four of them
from family side) operate in Turkey. In addition, there is no re-takaful company
operating in Turkey yet.
Table 53: Takaful Companies (Including Windows)
Takaful Companies 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
General Takaful Companies 2 2 2 2 2 2 4
Family Takaful Companies 0 0 0 0 1 2 4
Total 2 2 2 2 3 4 8
Source: Undersecretariat of Treasury (2016)
Table 54: Shares of Gross Written Premiums (TRY)
Gross Written Premiums (GWP) 2014 2015
Market Share of General Takaful 2.40% 4.18%
Market Share of Family Takaful (Life) 0.19% 0.64%
Market Share of Overall Takaful 2.13% 3.75%
Source: Undersecretariat of Treasury (2016)