Financial Action Task Force welcomes the progress made by Mauritius
On 27 November 2020, Mauritius submitted to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) its Second Progress Report, which captures the updated measures and actions taken to implement the FATF Action Plan. Following the submission of this report and subsequent exchange of information, a virtual face to face meeting was held between the Mauritian delegation, headed by the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius, and the FATF African Middle East Joint Group on Friday 22 January 2021.
We wish to highlight that in February 2021, the FATF commended the tremendous progress made by Mauritius in implementing the FATF Actions, notwithstanding the restrictions brought around by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The FATF mentioned that since February 2020, when Mauritius made a high-level political commitment to work with FATF and ESSAAMLG to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, Mauritius has taken pro-active measures in improving its AML/CFT regime, including by conducting outreach to promote understanding of ML and TF risks and obligations, and providing training for law enforcement authorities to ensure that they have the capability to conduct money laundering investigations.
Mauritius should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, by:
- implementing risk-based supervision plans effectively for The Financial Services Commission and relevant DNFBP supervisors and increase the diversity of STR filing, especially among higher risk sectors;
- ensuring the access to accurate basic and beneficial ownership information by competent authorities in a timely manner;
- demonstrating that law enforcement agencies have capacity to conduct money laundering investigations, including parallel financial investigations and complex cases;
- implementing a risk-based approach for supervision of its NPO sector to prevent abuse for TF purposes; and
- demonstrating the adequate implementation of targeted financial sanctions through outreach and supervision.
The Government of Mauritius reiterates its unflinching commitment to exit the FATF list of “Countries under increased monitoring” at the earliest.