MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Fazil Hossenkhan, Nafiisah Jeehoo, Kelly Li and Alicia Kwan Pang, Bowmans
residents for eventual exchange with relevant treaty partners. Amendments have been made to Mauritius laws to introduce the obligations adopted by Mauritius pursuant to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. There may be different and potentially obligatory disclosure requirements applica - ble to investors in the fund and their beneficial owners as a result of the CRS, local legislation implementing the CRS and/or other legislation similar to the CRS. 4.11 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) Regime AML As a financial institution and licensee of the FSC, a fund is under legal and regulatory obligation to com - ply with the applicable laws related to anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT) in Mauritius, and establishing policies and internal controls to mitigate and manage the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing. The legal framework related to AML/CFT includes, but is not limited to, the following: • the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Launder - ing Act 2002 (FIAMLA); • the Financial Intelligence & Anti-Money Laundering Regulations 2018 (the “Regulations 2018”); • the United Nations (Financial Prohibitions, Arms Embargo and Travel Ban) Sanctions Act 2019 and any regulations made thereunder; • the Financial Crimes Commission Act 2023 (FCCA); • the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002; • the Convention for the Suppression of the Financ - ing of Terrorism Act 2003; • the Financial Services Act 2007; and • any code or rules as may be issued by the FSC. The FSC also issued its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Handbook (the “FSC Handbook”) in January 2020. The FSC Hand - book is designed to provide guidance and assist financial institutions in complying with legislation. The main AML/CFT laws in Mauritius are the FIAMLA and the FCCA. Offences related to money-laundering include:
• engaging in a transaction that involves property which is, or either in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents, the proceeds of any crime; • receiving, being in possession of, concealing, disguising, transferring, converting, disposing of, removing from or bringing into Mauritius any prop - erty which is, or either in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents, the proceeds of any crime; • concealing or disguising property which is, or either in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents, the proceeds of any crime, including concealing or disguising its true nature, source, location, disposition, movement or ownership of, or rights with respect to it; • failure to take reasonable measures to ensure that the fund is not capable of being used to launder money; • failure to report any suspicious transaction; and • any tipping-off which is committed when a report - ing person or one of its officers discloses to a person that a suspicious transaction is being or has been filed, or that related information is being or has been requested by, furnished or submitted to the Financial Intelligence Unit of Mauritius. Know Your Client (KYC)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD) CDD is the key element for prevention of money laun - dering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. It is important for the fund to know its customers/cli - ents, which involves obtaining information and identity documents from them (referred to as the “identifica - tion stage”), and by validating the information obtained (referred to as the “verification stage”). FIAMLA and the Regulations 2018 require the fund to undertake CDD measures with respect to each customer and business relationship. The CDD measures must be applied to verify the iden - tity of a customer and beneficial owner, especially in the following circumstances: • before or during the course of establishing a busi - ness relationship with a customer; • while conducting transactions for occasional cus - tomers;
211 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook