MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Valerie Bisasur, Jean-Vincent Dacruz and Shane Mungur, BLC Robert & Associates
BLC Robert & Associates 2nd Floor, The Axis 26 Bank Street Cybercity Ebene 72201 Mauritius
Tel: +230 403 2400 Fax: +230 403 2401 Email: chambers@blc.mu Web: www.blc.mu
1. Legal Framework 1.1 Key Laws and Regulations
• use of cloud services; • environmental, social and governance (ESG); • capital adequacy, outsourcing, liquidity risk management and other prudential measures; • application of Basel III; • anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); and • cybersecurity. The banking sector is also subject to other leg - islation, which is described as “banking laws” under the Banking Act and is related to AML/ CFT under the supervision of the BoM – namely: • the Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism Act 2003; • the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2002; • the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002; • the Prevention of Terrorism (International Obli - gations) Act 2008; and • the United Nations (Financial Prohibitions, Arms Embargo and Travel Ban) Sanctions Act 2019, and the regulations and guidelines made thereunder. In addition to the general pieces of legislation (such as the Companies Act 2001, the Insolven -
The banking sector in Mauritius is primarily reg - ulated by the Bank of Mauritius Act 2004, the Banking Act 2004 (the “Banking Act”) and regu - lations/guidelines issued by the Bank of Mauri - tius (BoM) under those Acts. The Bank of Mauritius Act 2004 establishes the BoM as the central bank of Mauritius and pro - vides for its objects, powers and functions. The Banking Act sets out the framework for the licensing, operation, regulation and supervision of banks and other financial institutions (non- bank deposit-taking institutions and cash deal - ers). Under the Banking Act, the BoM has wide discretion and powers to issue instructions or guidelines or impose requirements relating to the operations, activities and standards to be main - tained by banks and other financial institutions. To date, several guidelines have been issued, which are regularly updated covering various topics, such as (among others): • licensing conditions and description of busi - ness activities;
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