Mauritius Finance welcomes the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meeting of October 21 to remove Mauritius from its “grey” list.
At a press conference on October 21, Marcus Pleyer, President of the FATF congratulated Mauritius and Botswana who have both been removed from the gray list. “This development is due to the hard work and determination of the authorities who have recognized that changes need to be made,” he said.
He went on to cite some of Mauritius’ most notable progress, including improved investigative capacity of the authorities, better cooperation between local and international agencies, and more money laundering prosecutions.
“We were confident of this outcome because since the beginning of 2020, the government, the regulator and the financial services industry have worked together in an exemplary manner,” said Samade Jhummun, CEO of Mauritius Finance. He further states that the hard work of all partners has enabled Mauritius to comply with the FATF recommendations well ahead of the January 2022 deadline.
“Today, the Mauritian financial center is once again demonstrating its resilience and ability to meet challenges despite the disruption caused by the global Covid-19 epidemic,” said Samade Jhummun.
This announcement reinforces the confidence of investors in the Mauritian financial jurisdiction and leads Mauritius Finance and all the players in our financial industry to look at the future of our economy with serenity.
For the President of Mauritius Finance, Mahesh Doorgakant, the Mauritian financial sector is strengthened after this announcement. Following the FATF’s decision to include Mauritius on its “grey” list at the beginning of 2020, a lot of work has been done to consolidate the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules in our financial center. “Today, Mauritius is compliant with 39 of the 40 FATF recommendations in this area, according to the latest ESAAMLG report. This is a better score compared to countries like Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and even some EU and FATF member states,” said Mahesh Doorgakant.
Mauritius Finance will now actively participate in the efforts of the government, the regulator and the operators so that, by 2021, Mauritius will be the first country to comply with all the 40 rules recommended by the FATF. This will make Mauritius a model for the world in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. “Now that we have been removed from the FATF’s grey list, we are initiating all the necessary procedures and appeals to ensure that the European Union removes us from its black list quickly,” adds Mahesh Doorgakant.
