Republic of Mauritius- Mauritius compliant to FATF recommendations, states Minister Sesungkur

The Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Dharmendar Sesungkur, made this statement, yesterday, at a press conference in Ebene, following his recent participation at the 19^th Council of Ministers of ESAAMLG, in Eswatini.

He observed that Mauritius has passed its critical re-evaluation, which has been positively validated by the FATF on a series of recommendations related to money laundering and financing of terrorism-related activities. He expressed his satisfaction with regard to the re-evaluation outcome as a thorough background work has been carried out so as to ensure that Mauritius is today recognised by ESAAMLG as a safe, reliable and clean jurisdiction which will not tolerate cases of money laundering or terrorist financing.

Moreover, Minister Sesungkur pointed out that this re-evaluation confirms the good reputation of the Mauritian financial jurisdiction and that the country does not appear on any black list. He further reiterated Government’s vision to make the Mauritius International Financial Centre one of the main pillars of economic growth and in order for this to be achieved, the country’s reputation as a secure, safe, transparent destination that is fully compliant with international standards and regulations cannot be jeopardised.

He also recalled Mauritius’ ambitions to become a financial centre for Africa as the continent will experience sustained growth in the years to come, which will involve a lot of foreign direct investment. As such, Mauritius is positioning itself to facilitate this movement of funds to Africa as it has the required ecosystem to do so.

Mauritius is a member of the ESAAMLG since 1999. As a result, it endorsed the recommendations of the FATF and committed itself to implement these recommendations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.