Republic of Mauritius- Mauritius reiterates high level political commitment to implement FATF’s action plan

In a communiqué issued, yesterday, by the Ministry of Financial Services and Good
Governance, the authorities reassured
the global investment community that Mauritius remains a credible and trusted
jurisdiction. According to Government, the list is not yet final and needs to
be submitted to the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of
Ministers for approval, following which it will then become effective on 1^st
October 2020. 

Mauritius also reiterated its commitment to implement
the FATF Action Plan in the shortest delay despite the sanitary curfew
prevailing in Mauritius since 20 March 2020. It is recalled that the authorities
delivered on their commitment and a first progress report was sent to the FATF
on the agreed date.  The FATF process has
been halted due to the Covid-19 situation and the progress report could not be
assessed. 

The country has obtained technical assistance from the
EU funded AML/CFT Global Facility and the German Government through the German
Development Agency, the GIZ to support the implementation of the FATF Action
Plan.  Even during the sanitary curfew,
Mauritius has continued to work extensively with the technical assistance
providers.

The communiqué highlights that unlike in the past when
there were always fruitful consultations in line with EU practice prior to any
major decision being taken, the present decision is contrary to the spirit of
dialogue and partnership which binds Mauritius and the EU.  Mauritius initiated actions to open a dialogue
with the European Commission as soon as the authorities took cognizance of the proposed listing of Mauritius through a press article
published on 05 May 2020. 

The EU listing is a direct consequence of the listing
of Mauritius by the FATF on its list of “Jurisdictions under Increased
Monitoring”, stipulates the communiqué. It is recalled that the Government of
Mauritius has, in February 2020, given a high level political commitment to the
FATF to implement the Action Plan within agreed timelines and is taking all
necessary measures to honour its commitment. 

In addition, under the FATF Action Plan, Mauritius
does not have technical compliance issues. The Anti-Money Laundering and
Combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) legal framework has been
extensively revamped and as at date, Mauritius is largely compliant or
compliant with 35 out of the 40 Recommendations as compared to 14 largely
compliant or compliant ratings at the time of the publication of its Mutual
Evaluation Report in September 2018. 

More importantly, Mauritius has achieved the FATF
expectations with respect to what the FATF has termed the “Big Six
Recommendations”.  These are: the
criminalisation of the money laundering offence, the criminalisation of the
terrorism financing offence, the implementation of a framework for targeted
financial sanctions, customer due diligence, record keeping and the reporting
of suspicious transactions. 

In its public statement, the FATF has identified the
areas in which Mauritius has to demonstrate an increase in the level of
effectiveness of its AML/CFT system. 
This situation is not unique to Mauritius, states the communiqué.  Other countries including FATF members, which
have been assessed so far have yet to achieve a high or substantial level of
effectiveness in the same areas. 

#ResOuLakaz     #BeSafeMoris

Government Information Service, Prime
Minister’s Office, Level 6, New Government Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius.
Email: gis@govmu.org  Website: http://gis.govmu.org  Mobile App: Search Gov​