Takaful Malaysia Am and Handshakes Technology (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (“Handshakes”) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in a first-of-its-kind deployment in Malaysia’s takaful and insurance sector, leveraging data and technology to drive continuous compliance and enhanced risk visibility across the ecosystem.
As Malaysia intensifies enforcement of anti-money laundering and financial crime regulations, the partnership marks a significant step forward in how risk is identified, monitored, and managed – moving beyond periodic checks and framework-led compliance towards continuous, data-driven oversight. The collaboration is aligned with Bank Negara Malaysia’s policies on Anti-Money Laundering, Countering Financing of Terrorism and Counter Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) and Targeted Financial Sanctions (TFS) requirements.
“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to enhancing compliance capabilities through data and technology. By embedding real-time intelligence directly into day-to-day decision-making, we are enabling financial institutions to better identify risk – addressing it as it emerges, not after the fact. Our collaboration with Takaful Malaysia Am marks a strong step forward in that direction,” said Daryl Neo, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Handshakes.
STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED COLLABORATION
While Malaysia has established strong regulatory frameworks, financial institutions are under increasing pressure to demonstrate consistent, real-world execution.
Under the MOU, Takaful Malaysia Am has collaborated with Handshakes as its technology partner for Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) governance and risk intelligence, integrating corporate data and insights directly into onboarding, due diligence, and ongoing monitoring processes.
This enables clearer visibility into ownership structures, earlier identification of risk exposure, and more consistent, data-led decision-making across the customer lifecycle.
To support broader ecosystem adoption, Handshakes will also extend exclusive access to its corporate intelligence platform, the Handshakes APP, to selected stakeholders within Takaful Malaysia Am’s network, including bancatakaful partner, takaful intermediaries, loss adjusters, and claims solicitors.
This is designed to encourage wider adoption of corporate transparency, UBO insights and risk screening practices across the value chain.
RAISING THE BAR FOR GOVERNANCE IN MALAYSIA’S TAKAFUL SECTOR
Malaysia remains a global leader in Islamic finance, increasing expectations around transparency, governance, and risk management. In this context, the partnership signals a broader industry transition from manual, time-intensive compliance processes, to integrated, technology-enabled risk management.
By combining UBO insights with corporate relationship mapping, the collaboration strengthens visibility into complex corporate structures, which is a critical challenge in financial services.
“Strong governance and transparency are fundamental to sustaining trust in the takaful sector, underpinning our commitment to fairness, accountability and Shariah-aligned practices. This partnership is about strengthening how risk is understood, assessed and managed across the business,” said Mohamed Sabri Ramli, Chief Executive Officer of Takaful Malaysia Am.
“As expectations on governance continue to evolve, takaful operators require greater clarity, consistency and speed in decision-making and execution. This collaboration enables us to move forward with greater confidence and agility, while contributing to higher standards and reinforcing trust across the industry,” Sabri added.
