Background: Kindlin-3 is a cytoplasmic protein that binds and modulates the ligand binding property of integrin ␣L␤2. Results: Kindlin-3 induces integrin ␣L␤2 clustering, and it interacts with the scaffold protein RACK1. Conclusion: Kindlin-3 is involved in integrin ␣L␤2 outside-in signaling. Significance: This study presents important findings in understanding the role of kindlin-3 in integrin signaling.

Kindlins are FERM-containing cytoplasmic proteins that regulate integrin-mediated cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) attachments. Kindlin-3 is expressed in hematopoietic cells, platelets, and endothelial cells. Studies have shown that kindlin-3 stabilizes cell adhesion mediated by ß1, ß2, and ß3 integrins. Apart from integrin cytoplasmic tails, kindlins are known to interact with other cytoplasmic proteins. Here we demonstrate that kindlin-3 can associate with ribosome via the receptor for activated-C kinase 1 (RACK1) scaffold protein based on immunoprecipitation, ribosome binding, and proximity ligation assays. We show that kindlin-3 regulates c-Myc protein expression in the human chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562. Cell proliferation was reduced following siRNA reduction of kindlin-3 expression and a significant reduction in tumor mass was observed in xenograft experiments. Mechanistically, kindlin-3 is involved in integrin α5ß1-Akt-mTOR-p70S6K signaling; however, its regulation of c-Myc protein expression could be independent of this signaling axis.

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Purpose Malaysia is recognised as an emerging country with a large Muslim population, making the Malaysian Takaful industry the largest Takaful market in the Southeast Asia region and, notably, one of the fastest growing markets globally. Malaysia is also the first country globally to implement a risk-based capital framework for Takaful. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the efficiency level (cost efficiency and technical efficiency) of the Takaful industry and to examine the effects of Takaful insurance firms’ specific factors and corporate governance factors that influence the efficiency of Takaful insurance in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the efficiency level of the Malaysian Takaful industry was examined between 2011 and 2015. The sample consisted of 11 family Takaful and 8 general Takaful operators. Two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used by first, conducting non-parametric frontier data envelopment analysis to obtain a DEA score for each operator. This was followed by panel regression with the DEA scores as the dependent variable and the insurance firms’ specific factors and corporate governance factors as the independent variables. Findings The results of DEA indicate that Takaful operators in general have allocative inefficiency but family Takaful is more cost efficient than general Takaful. Results of panel data analysis reveal that corporate governance factors do influence the cost efficiency but find no evidence on the firm-specific factors towards the cost efficiency and technical efficiency on Takaful operators. Board size and the proportion of non-executive directors impose a negative and significant relationship with cost efficiency, while proportion of Muslim directors in the board is not significant. Research limitations/implications This paper focused solely on Malaysia which uses strict regulations governing the Takaful insurance market. Due diligence was also performed to minimise any limitation in the paper. It is proposed that future studies should examine this issue in greater detail by incorporating more data from other Muslim countries. Practical implications The findings of this paper have significant implications for policymakers to understand the efficiency condition in the Takaful market. Takaful operators should maintain a small board size with a higher proportion of executive directors, given they could improve the level of effective decision-making to enhance the cost efficiency. As corporate governance factors are significant, Takaful operators in Malaysia should also undertake transparent disclosure practice and reporting such as providing adequate and relevant information related to Shariah compliance and principles to provide a robust foundation as the Takaful market leader regarding Takaful regulations globally. Social implications The consumer is able to make a better decision when choosing Takaful insurance company to protect their interests. Originality/value No similar paper has been undertaken to the best of the researcher’s knowledge using similar research design and scope to investigate the efficiency of Takaful insurance as in this paper. Takaful insurance is a rapidly growing industry in Malaysia, setting a prime example to other countries globally. Malaysia was selected for this study, as it is the only nation that has implemented the most extreme regulation in the Takaful insurance market.

Life insurance as a financial tool is essential to both individuals and the economy for the promotion of long-term savings, the reinvestment of funds, risk management and the development of capital markets to support economic growth. The determinants of life insurance consumption from the economic and demographic perspectives were examined in the ASEAN context. The influence of secondary and tertiary education on the demand for life insurance was investigated to highlight the importance of introducing insurance knowledge in the education syllabus in order to improve the economy in the future with better income and social returns, supported by the life insurance market. This will ensure a sound risk management strategy among individuals, firms and countries as a whole and will align with the ASEAN Economic Community blueprint aimed at improving the living standards of the community.

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This paper contributes to the existing literature by examining the efficiency and competitiveness of the Takaful insurance. We employ the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compute the efficiency of Takaful operators, while Panzar-Rosse (P-R) H-statistic method is used to evaluate the degree of competition. The findings indicate that the inefficiency in Takaful’s operations is affected by the scale of operations but not by inefficiency in managerial practice. Actuaries need to pay attention to estimating provisions for outstanding claims, as this factor is negatively influencing the efficiency of Takaful insurance. Additionally, the managers are cautioned not to overspend on commissions paid to the agents because this will reduce the profit of the Takaful operators. The findings to a very large extent indicate that improvement in efficiency will increase the entry of a more viable competitor to participate in the Takaful industry. The regulators need to implement prudent monitoring of the operations of Takaful insurers because improvements in efficiency will make Takaful operators more competitive. The implications further shed light on the motivation for insurance firms to improve efficiency that enable them to charge lower price to enhance competition which may benefit both the firms and customers.

The insurance industry plays the roles of intermediary, provider of financial services and risk transferor. These important roles have created strong demand for insurance products. Strong financial fundamentals combined with industry strength are vital for insurance-based companies to continuously do well in their business. This paper analyses the Earnings Response Coefficients (ERCs) and the financial performance of insurance-based companies in Malaysia. This analysis covers a period of 5 years from the year 2007 to the year 2011.This study also investigates the relationship between growth opportunity for the insurance industry in Malaysia and earned premium income, net investment income, net claims incurred, commissions paid, total assets and total liabilities as the specific factors of an insurance firm. As discovered in other studies, ERCs are found to be significant. In addition, among the six variables, only commission paid shows a significant result in affecting growth opportunities. A significant negative relationship is found between commissions paid and growth opportunities for the insurance industry in Malaysia. The significant relationship suggests that insurance companies should adequately implement or administer arrangements in their commissions paid policy.