Overview of Mauritius' AML/CFT/CPF Compliance and Ongoing Initiatives

Compliance Status with FATF Standards

Mauritius has demonstrated a strong commitment to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF), positioning itself as a jurisdiction of substance with a robust regulatory framework. The country is assessed as "Compliant" or "Largely Compliant" with all 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations. This achievement underscores Mauritius' dedication to uphold global standards and adhere to international best practices.

Background

Mauritius was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List in February 2020. To this effect, the Government of Mauritius made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF to strengthen the effectiveness of our AML/CFT regime and prioritise the implementation of the FATF Action Plan. In this endeavour, Mauritius received technical assistance and support from a number of international organisations and development partners.

Over the course of several ESAAMLG Task Force Meetings, Mauritius has constantly demonstrated its progress and reaffirmed its commitments to fight against illicit financial flows.  The table below illustrates the progress made through different enhanced Follow Up Reports (FUR) following the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) in 2018:

In October 2021, Mauritius successfully exited the FATF Grey List, ahead of schedule, showcasing its unwavering political determination to sustain AML/CFT reforms. This accomplishment was followed by removal from the United Kingdom’s and European Union’s List of High-Risk Third Countries in November 2021 and March 2022, respectively.

Despite exiting the FATF Grey List, Mauritius continues to maintain its momentum in the fight against money laundering, terrorism and proliferation financing. Amongst other measures, Mauritius carried out risk assessment exercise in relation to virtual assets and virtual assets service providers, which subsequently led to the enactment of a comprehensive legislation on virtual assets and initial token offerings.

Ongoing Initiatives to sustain compliance

AML/CFT/CPF continues to remain high on the agenda of Government. Mauritius is currently carrying out its second National Risk Assessment, including the different sectoral risk assessments, to identify the ML/TF risks associated in its ecosystem. Thereafter, an AML/CFT (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to address, amongst others, any gap identified during the National Risk Assessment, will soon be introduced into the National Assembly.

Mauritius remains committed to consolidating capacity building, training and awareness raising programs. In this vein, trainings, outreach activities experience sharing sessions and workshops are organised on an ongoing basis with the collaboration of development partners and support of international institutions.

Mauritius continues to remain focus on its strategy of enhancing regional and international cooperation and in so doing, is assisting other countries by sharing its experience gained and lessons learned in tackling illicit financial flows.