Head of Legal and Compliance in an Offshore Management Company and also a Certified
Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS), Tariq Caramtali states that Mauritius should be
honored to be amongst the few countries which are compliant with all the 40 recommendations
of the FATF. “This is definitely a boost to the financial services sector and a comfort to
Investors. Mauritius has, through endless initiatives, demonstrated its commitment to combat
money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation. In this respect,
Mauritius has ratified and acceded to numerous international conventions, protocols, and
treaties to express its commitment towards complying with the FATF Recommendations. And
today, those initiatives have proved rewarding. International affiliates and banking
institutions worldwide would be more at ease to facilitate the flow of funds to and from
Mauritius, without the need to undergo enhanced due diligence measures on our country.”
He believes that Mauritius has a robust legal framework to fight against money laundering
and terrorist financing and proliferation with a view to adhering to the FATF
Recommendations. “It was hectic for Mauritius during the last couple of years and the only
recommendation which failed the compliance test recently was Recommendation 15 ‘New
Technologies’. Now, Recommendation 15 has been upgraded to “Largely Compliant” on the basis
of the progress made by Mauritius in addressing the underlying deficiencies.”
The Mauritius Financial Services Commission, he explains, as the designated Regulator and
Supervisor for virtual asset service providers and issuers of initial token offerings,
worked with the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance and other stakeholders to
come up with the Virtual Assets and Initial Token Offerings (“VAITOS”) Act, which is the
regulatory framework to strengthen the oversight and help improve transparency of virtual
asset transactions.
He adds that other actions taken by the FSC, include: -
Issuance of Rules under the VAITOS on Capital and Other Financial Requirements, Client
Disclosure, Custody of Client Assets, Cybersecurity, Publication of Advertisements, Risk
Management, Statutory Returns and Travel Rule;
Issuance of the AML/CFT Guidance Notes for Virtual Asset Service Providers & Issuers of
Initial Token Offerings; and
Enforcement actions on those who were in non-conformity with the VAITOS Act.
Speaking about the existing risks when it comes money laundering and terrorist financing as
well as corruption, the Compliance Expert utters that they are always there. “Risks will
always exist, but we as the industry experts should be well versed as to how to mitigate
those risks. It is to be recognized that Mauritius; even for other renown Jurisdictions, has
strengths and weaknesses in its frameworks to combat money laundering and the financing of
terrorism and proliferation, as well as corruption. This is why the frameworks, and its
functionality should periodically be tested and assessed, with the necessary actions taken
accordingly.”
He trusts that it is right time that the National Risk Assessment Report be reviewed now,
taking into consideration the last ESAAMLG Mutual Evaluation Report, so as to guide the
implementation of our actions to strengthen our AML/CFT framework over the next three years.
“Our reputational risk is of utmost importance and the industry players should all the time
monitor that our system is not being abused by outlawed Clients or Investors. It is up to
the Management of each Licensee to take the necessary measures to educate employees through
continuous training, mostly on anti-money laundering and combatting terrorist financing and
proliferation,” he declares.
Surely, underlines Tariq Caramtali, the Regulators play an important role in ensuring that
their respective Licensees are adhering to the statutory requirements, as well as the
international norms as far as Anti-Money Laundering and combatting the Financing of
Terrorist activities are concerned. He is of the opinion that now that Mauritius is
complying with the 40 FATF Recommendations, the trend should be maintained.
“It must be understood that compliance is much more than a simple “tick box” exercise. Now,
with the emergence of new technologies, compliance has taken a new step. In my humble
opinion, and in the event that the monitoring agencies will not follow the global patterns,
Mauritius will be back to square one. But I do appreciate that, for instance, even that we
are largely compliant, the effort is still present for the Financial Services Commission as
the latter is really taken up in its onsite inspection exercise to ensure that the
regulatory requirements are being met by its Licensees. Ongoing workshops and trainings are
also being hosted for the benefit of the financial services’ practitioners.”
He avers that the compliance of Mauritius with the FATF Recommendations is testimony to
Mauritius’ commitment in being a transparent jurisdiction in the global financial services
landscape and reaffirms its position as a prominent investment destination. “The FSC is
doing its best and will no doubt continue to protect the integrity of the virtual assets
eco-system for instance, with a view to uphold the reputation of Mauritius as a robust and
credible jurisdiction,” says the Compliance expert.
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