The Mauritius IFC welcomes the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to withdraw Mauritius from its List of Jurisdictions under increased monitoring at its plenary meeting which concluded on 21st October 2021, Paris. This decision comes ahead of the agreed timeline of January 2022 for Mauritius to implement the recommendations made in previous FATF assessments and undoubtedly this renews international investors’ confidence in the Mauritius IFC and augurs well for the future of the economy.
The FATF congratulated Mauritius for the significant progress made in addressing the strategic AML/CFT deficiencies identified earlier by the FATF and included in their respective action plans. Mauritius will no longer be subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process. This comes after the country received an on-site visit, despite the coronavirus crisis. As a member country, Mauritius will work with the Eastern & Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to continue to strengthen its AML/CFT regime.
Keynote from FATF
- Praising the “enhanced capacities of investigative authorities to detect cases in medium and high-risk sectors” as well as the appropriate efforts made to investigate and prosecute money laundering in both the global business and non-financial sector.
- Mauritius has succeeded in implementing the recommendations made in previous FATF assessments well ahead of the agreed timeline of January 2022.
- The Mauritius International Financial Centre has once again proved how resilient it is, since all its stakeholders managed to meet this challenge amidst the disruptions following unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic and its uniquely complicated consequences.
Keynote from Mauritius Finance
- Mauritius has already implemented 39 out of the 40 FATF recommendations regarding AML/CFT, as highlighted by the latest ESAAMLG report. In doing so, Mauritius is already ahead of countries like Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and even some member states of the European Union and the FATF.
- Government, the regulator and the financial sector operators are now maintaining their efforts so that Mauritius becomes the first country to comply with all 40 AML/CFT rules of the FATF in the very near future. When this happens, Mauritius will be a model jurisdiction in AML/CFT compliance worldwide.
- The next step is to ensure that the EU removes Mauritius from its List of High-Risk Third Countries as well. Mauritius will initiate the necessary procedures and we will explore all options to expedite this process.
