KUALA LUMPUR (May 11): RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK) said it has secured a green light from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to begin negotiations with Tokio Marine Asia Pte Ltd on a potential disposal of up to 100% of its stake in its insurance arm RHB Insurance Bhd.
The proposed deal would see RHB Insurance merged with Tokio Marine Insurans (Malaysia) Bhd to form an enlarged entity, in which RHB would retain up to a 35% stake.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Monday, RHB Bank said BNM, via a letter on Monday, had indicated it has no objection to the parties commencing negotiations, with a six-month deadline to conclude the talks.
The clearance is not the final approval. Under the Financial Services Act 2013, the parties must still obtain the Minister of Finance’s approval, upon BNM’s recommendation, before entering into any definitive agreements.
“Accordingly, a detailed announcement on the proposals will be made upon execution of the definitive agreement(s) for the proposals,” it added.
This is not the first attempt at such a transaction. Talks on a similar disposal and merger were first announced in July 2019 after receiving BNM’s green light, but were called off in December that year after both parties failed to agree on terms and conditions for the proposed disposal.
RHB had on Aug 1, 2025 signed 20-year exclusive partnerships with Tokio Marine Life for bancassurance and Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd (KL:TAKAFUL) for bancatakaful, through which RHB will exclusively market and distribute their life, family takaful and general takaful products across its network in Malaysia.
The partnerships secure up to RM1.6 billion in access fees for RHB, providing the bank a predictable source of fee income for the next 20 years.
This follows the expiry of the previous 10-year agreement on Dec 31, 2024.