Following its October 2021 Plenary, the FATF concluded on the night of 21st October that Mauritius would no longer be subject to increased monitoring by the FATF; the “Good News” awaited by the small island nation following the all the hard work contributed by the industry’s stakeholders since February 2020.
To recall, the Mauritius International Financial Centre was taken aback in February 2020 when it was announced that the country’s had strategic deficiencies in its AML/CFT framework and that it was being placed on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. Soon after, the small island faced another major blow with the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the island to close its borders and place its population under national lockdown (Sanitary restriction orders).
Despite all these challenges, Mauritius proved itself as a resilient and unified nation as all stakeholders; The Government, the Regulators, the law enforcement agencies and the operators of the industry, all worked together to address the deficiencies and improved the AML/CFT regime of Mauritius.
Following the delisting of Mauritius by the FATF, the United Kingdom (UK) has, through
amendments made to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds
(Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, removed Mauritius as a high-risk country for
the purposes of enhanced customer due diligence requirements.
With its borders opened since October 2021, being off the FATF grey list, Mauritius is back into business ! And proudly so, being recognised as being compliant.
For more details and to explore your business opportunities, please get in touch with our team on: office@rosemont.mu
You should also be aware of the interesting recent developments on the taxation of Trusts and Foundations in Mauritius resulting from the last Finance Act. These measures were put in place as a result of a review of potential harmful tax regimes by the OECD, and should ensure that Mauritius maintains compliant with their demands, whilst confirming the attractiveness of the jurisdiction for legitimate estate planning solutions which are not available in other more traditional “offshore” locations. For further information on this subject please contact us.
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* LIST OF JURISDICTION UNDER INCREASED MONITORING
