In past editions of our newsletters¹, we informed our valued clients of the European Union’s (EU) decision to include Mauritius on its list of High Risk Third Countries (the “EU List").

The EU List was subsequently approved and came into effect on 1st October 2020.

It will be recalled that the inclusion of Mauritius on the List ensued the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to place the country in the “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring" List (the “FATF List") in February 2020. To that effect, the Mauritian authorities agreed to implement a detailed Action Plan within an agreed timeline with the FATF to enable its removal from the FATF list and subsequently from the EU list.

So far, Mauritius has submitted:
(i) an initial progress report in March 2020 which remained unassessed by the FATF because of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis;
(ii) a revised progress report to the FATF on 31 July 2020; and
(iii) an updated progress report on 31 August 2020.

Also, a virtual meeting was held between the Joint Group (JG) of the FATF and the local authorities at the request of the Mauritian authorities on 8 September 2020. The JG was satisfied of the seriousness with which the Action Plan is being implemented by Mauritius and commended the progress achieved by the country so far. The JG has already submitted their findings to the FATF Plenary, which will be convened later this month (21-23 October).

For more information, you may also refer to the communique issued by the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance on 1 October 2020 by clicking HERE.

1.If you missed our past newsletters, you can access them by clicking on the links below:
- Mauritius issues communique on the new EU List (June 2020): HERE
- Mauritius on the EU List of High Risk Third Countries (May 2020):HERE