On the 21st of October, 2021, right before the closure of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) Plenary, Marcus Pleyer, the President of an intergovernmental policy body that sets global Anti-money laundering and combatting terrorism financing (AML/CFT) standards and ensures the effective implementation of such standards in all jurisdictions stated the following: “after completing its action plan and a successful onsite visit by FATF team, Mauritius has been removed from the grey list”.

This announcement shall be considered as a welcoming boost to Mauritius, since that starting February 2020, Mauritius was included in so-called “grey-list” of FATF – a list of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their approach to Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-terrorism financing policies and which are closely monitored by the international financial watchdog. This resulted in inclusion of Mauritius on the European Union Anti-Money Laundering list of high-risk third countries, the so-called “Black List”, performed by European Commission.

In order to enhance the effectiveness of AML/CTF policies the government of Mauritius has developed an Action Plan, which was made by several working group at a national level with a task to tackle the deficiencies identified in country’s Anti-Money Laundering measures.

During three days, starting from September, the 13th, an on-site inspection was carried out by financial watchdog delegation in order to evaluate the successes that Mauritius achieved. Following the Inspections, which results were positive, FATF Plenary took place from the 19th to 21st of October, where it was finally decided to exclude the Mauritius from the ‘grey-list’.

The removal of Mauritius from the FATF ‘grey-list’ shall be counted as a great success of bold measures taken by Mauritius, adhering jurisdiction to the highest standards of AML/CTF policies. Moreover, the EU Commission will now review the assessment by the FATF and in case they will agree with outputs financial watchdogs have made, Mauritius will be removed from EU Black List as well.

This is clearly a great outcome for the small country, as they will be able to rise as a global financial services industry leading jurisdiction once over. Mauritius ranks 1st amongst the African countries, 13th globally in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business 2020 report and this removal/de-listing reinforces Mauritius’s position as a leading investment destination and domicile of choice for structuring cross border investment into Africa and Asia.

Our editorial office and the whole team is happy to introduce this news to you, as it means that Mauritius has returned as one of the most attractive jurisdictions for those who wish to try themselves in financial services business, and we are delighted to offer our professional services for those seeking entry to the Mauritius company market. You shall feel free to contact us to find out more on services that we are offering.