What happened? . REGULATION: According to Asia Insurance Review, the Malaysian regulator and central bank (Bank Negara Malaysia) is requiring insurers and takaful operators to review their pricing practices for health cover, following concerns raised by policyholders over price increases. This may mean phasing in price increases over time and offering viable alternatives for customers significantly impacted. . CONTEXT: The newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, recently reported that medical insurance premiums are expected to increase 40-70% next year. Insurance associations in Malaysia state that medical claims costs increased 56% during 2021 to 2023. . PRU: Prudential has been increasing health insurance prices in Malaysia (and other markets) over the course of 2024 to address medical claims inflation. This has had a negative effect on new business volumes. BNPP Exane View: . OUR VIEW: there are two ways to read this news. On the one hand, regulatory interventions on pricing are obviously unhelpful, and may impact the ability of Prudential (and other companies) to restore profitability. On the other hand, this is confirmation that repricing is required across the market, rather than being a Pru-specific problem. In fact, it may even indicate that Pru is ahead of the market, and possibly achieved some of the required price rises before the regulatory intervention. To the extent that re-pricing was impacting competitiveness, Pru''s competitive position may improve if other companies are seeking to increase prices from here.