Mauritius is now largely compliant or compliant with all the 40 FATF Recommendations

At the 44th Task Force Meeting of the Senior Officials held from 28 August - 01 September 2022 in Zambia, the request submitted by Mauritius for the technical compliance re-rating of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 15 – New Technologies was tabled and considered.  Mauritius was successfully upgraded on Recommendation 15 – New Technologies to “largely compliant” from “partially compliant”.

 

Following this re-rating, Mauritius is now “largely compliant” or “compliant” with all the 40 FATF Recommendations.

 

Under Recommendation 15 – New Technologies, countries and financial institutions should identify and assess the money laundering or terrorist financing risks that may arise in relation to (a) the development of new products and new business practices, including new delivery mechanisms, and (b) the use of new or developing technologies for both new and pre-existing products.  Countries are also required to implement the relevant measures relating to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), in a bid to mitigate/counter the related money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks. Indeed, Mauritius has witnessed major changes in its legislative framework over the past months, including the introduction of the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Act 2021 followed by the AML/CFT Guidance Notes for Virtual Asset Service Providers and Issuers of Initial Token Offerings and most recently the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offerings Services (Travel) Rules 2022.  The Mauritius Authorities have worked relentlessly to ensure that all the measures outlined in Recommendation 15 – New Technologies are fully applied and integrated within the regulatory and supervisory framework. 

 

The Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance issued a communique on the re-rating of Recommendation 15 – New Technologies on 2 September 2022 and this can be accessed here

 

Mauritius reaches yet another milestone with this positive re-rating as it consolidates its position as an international financial centre of repute for the region.  For more information on how you can use Mauritius as an investment platform, please write to us on bd@mitcoworld.com