Dubai, 4 June 2025 – Transamerica Life Bermuda, the global high-net-worth (HNW) life insurer, has been granted a licence by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to establish a presence in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region.

Kristine Ung, Chief Executive Officer at Transamerica Life Bermuda, stated: “Our entry into DIFC marks a significant milestone in our global growth strategy. Securing this licence will allow us to support our distribution partners in the Middle East, which is becoming a vital international financial and wealth management hub.” 

Salmaan Jaffery, Chief Business Development Officer at DIFC Authority, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Transamerica Life Bermuda to DIFC. Our progressive and pioneering laws and regulations continue to attract leading industry names to DIFC, which includes more than 125 insurance related entities. As the region’s only global hub for insurance and reinsurance, we look forward to working with Transamerica Life Bermuda to help them access the vast opportunities available from the Centre.”

Building on a longstanding heritage
With a heritage spanning almost 180 years through Aegon and Transamerica, Transamerica Life Bermuda brings significant experience in large sums assured and managing complex customer scenarios to the Middle East. 

Adnan Ladki has been appointed as Head of DIFC for Transamerica Life Bermuda and will work closely with the leadership team to advance the companies ambitions for the region. 

Over 20 years, DIFC has steered development within the insurance and reinsurance industry, attracting talent and technical expertise to access key markets in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa region. DIFC, as a jurisdiction that is benchmarked against regulatory environments including London, Bermuda, and Hong Kong, inspires confidence for reinsurers, reinsurance brokers, and MGAs to set up their operations.” 

DIFC is home to renowned insurance brokers, five of whom are among the top ranked entities by AM Best. Home to the region’s broadest and deepest financial ecosystem, DIFC announced record-breaking growth in 2024 with a total of 6,920 active companies, with unparallelled financial performance. DIFC is also home to a range of world-class insurance brokers, five of whom are among the top ranked entities by AM Best.

Driving thought leadership and initiating networking and discussion within these industries, the Centre continues to co-host the Dubai World Insurance Congress, a forum that gathers over 1700 senior leadership from over 82 countries, to tackle key issues impacting the industry.