British insurance group Prudential said that its Malaysian joint venture with Bank Simpanan Nasional has obtained a license to sell Islamic insurance products in the country.

The new licence was one of four granted by Malaysia's central bank bringing the total number of companies offering Islamic insurance services in Malaysia to nine, Prudential said in a statement.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to develop products that would have strong appeal to Muslim Malays who make up 60 percent of the population," said Mark Norbom, chief executive of Prudential Corporation Asia.

The joint venture will become operational in four to six months' time.

Global banking giant HSBC had announced this week that its joint insurance venture with Jerneh Asia Berhad and The Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia (EPF) had also been given approval to operate in the country.