Republic of Mauritius- Concerted efforts will promote financial integrity for all, says Minister Seeruttun

The ceremony was rewarding 225 professionals from the Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs) who participated in a capacity building training programme.  The two-day training focused on A Risk Based Approach to Anti-Money laundering and Combating the financing of terrorism.  It was organised jointly by the Financial Services Institute, the Global Finance Mauritius and the Human Resource Development Council.  Some 700 professionals have already completed their training under this programme.  An additional 955 participants will commence the training shortly.

In his address, Minister Seeruttun underlined that accountants and auditors are gatekeepers of the financial system of Mauritius, due to their unique position to observe transactions and identify suspicious activities that may indicate money laundering, terrorist financing or other unlawful conduct. Their august profession is looked upon as protectors of the interests of shareholders, creditors, governments, regulators and the community at large, he said.

The Minister pointed out that the training programme will further help the participants to understand their AML/CFT obligations which include identifying suspicious activity and submitting suspicious activity reports.

‘You have an important role in this ecosystem and your involvement and commitment in the fight against Money laundering (ML) and Terrorist Financing (TF) brings invaluable support to the work of regulatory and law enforcement agencies’, he emphasised.

The Minister urged the participants to continue discouraging illegal and immoral practices and encouraged them to stick to ethical conduct that will continue to be the basis of the profession’s continued relevance and raison d’être.

In addition, Mr Seeruttun reassured that efforts are being made to remove Mauritius from the European Commission blacklist and the Financial Action Task Force monitoring list well ahead of schedule.

For his part, Minister Callichurn, underpinned the importance of training, learning and skill development that are considered to be the backbone of human resource development. For enterprises, it is imperative to gain up-to-date skills which are essential to stay competitive in the local and global marketplace, he said.

According to him, the Ministry of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training is sparing no efforts to promote skills development, re-skilling and up-skilling programmes.  He reiterated Government’s commitment to invest all the resources necessary to ensure that Mauritius has a highly skilled and competent labour force, with the right person in the right job with the right skills at the right time.