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Seychelles hosted a delegation from the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group with the aim to continue monitoring the level of de-risking of member states. A particular emphasis was placed on the termination of correspondent banking relationships and its consequences on countries. The project team, of which Seychelles is the co-chair together with Angola, has as task to continually evaluate the de-risking levels within the region based on the information provided by countries and to prepare a report – highlighting the weaknesses, deficiencies and support structures – which will be presented to a Task Force meeting in Botswana in September 2023.

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Standard & Poor’s reviewed upwards the investment status of Mauritius to a Baa1-Baa3 rating, strengthening the Island’s position as the only International Financial Centre with an investment grade rating across Africa. Standard and Poor’s confirms that Mauritius will continue attracting GBC inflows: “Mauritius has over the past couple of decades also positioned itself as a global financial center, which is now significantly larger than that of peers in the region and approaching the size of more advanced global financial centers”.

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Effective 29 October 2023, there will be daily direct flights from London Gatwick Airport to Mauritius as the national carrier, Air Mauritius, shifts its operations from London Heathrow to London Gatwick Airport. Air Mauritius will be operating flights as per below schedules (can be subject to change):

• MK 042 MRU-LGW Monday to Sunday 23h05 07h00

• MK 053 LGW-MRU Monday to Sunday 15h55 07H15

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The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the BoM kept the Key Repo Rate unchanged at 4.50% per annum (as at June 2023). With the domestic economy gaining momentum in 2022 and global cross-border investment activities sustained, the economy grew by 8.7% in 2022 and a similar trend is expected across 2023. BoM forecasts inflation to decrease to about 6.8% in 2023 whilst hitting the target range of 2% to 5% in 2024. All these macroeconomic considerations have driven the decision of the MPC to leave the key rate unchanged.

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In a bid to promote research and development in the area of monetary policy and financial stability, a partnership agreement has been signed under the ageis of the Toulouse School of Economics and this agreement will be effective as from 1^st September 2023. Internationally acclaimed as the 8^th best research centre in the economics field, the Toulouse School of Economics is renowned for its upper edge in research in the financial, industrial economics and econometrics arenas.

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the FSC have renewed their regional capacity-building programme (launched in 2020) till December 2024, with the aim to continue supporting financial market governance. These workshops, which are based on OECD’s international policy standards and best practices, are delivered through the FSC’s Regional Centre of Excellence in partnership with the Bank of Mauritius (BOM). Topics covered include foreign investment policy, financial consumer protection, supervision of insurance and pension markets, crypto-asset regulation, and cooperation in the fight against corruption.

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The FSC issued draft Guidelines on Cloud Computing Services with the aim for players of the Financial Services industry to avail of best practices when adopting cloud computing services.

You can access the Guidance Notes here

You can read the Communiqué here

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has issued a draft Guidance Notes on Stablecoins to inform industry stakeholders about the FSC’s regulatory policy on stablecoins following the enactment of the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offerings Services Act (“VAITOS Act”).

You can access the Guidance Notes here

You can read the Communiqué here

The FSC has proposed a 2023 amendment to the Securities (Preferential Offer) Rules 2017. The purpose of these amendments is to provide for all issuers of debt securities to submit the relevant filings to the FSC.

You can access the Guidance Notes here

You can read the Communiqué here

Mauritius hosted the Bangladesh-Mauritius International Financial Centre Business Forum to deep dive into the multifold investment avenues between the two countries. The growth opportunities of both countries were discussed and potential areas of cooperation were explored, including direct air connectivity and easy visa processing, leveraging the IT expertise of Bangladesh and investing in the pharmaceutical sector of Mauritius to open up the way for Bangladeshi investors into the Africa continent.