Mauritius Unveils National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Strategy

Port Louis, Mauritius - The government of Mauritius has launched a comprehensive National AML/CFT Strategy to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the country. This strategy aims to enhance transparency, strengthen national coordination, and improve international cooperation.

Key Objectives

The strategy outlines several key actions that will be undertaken to achieve its objectives, including:

• Considering the need for Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) between competent authorities on sharing of information
• Establishing a website to disseminate information to all National AML/CFT Committee members
• Removing legal impediments to facilitate exchange of information between competent authorities

Enhancing Transparency and Information Sharing

The strategy also focuses on enhancing transparency of legal persons and arrangements by:

• Completing an assessment of the risk associated with legal persons
• Ensuring that there is adequate, accurate, and timely information available on the beneficial ownership of all legal persons
• Ensuring that relevant competent authorities can access beneficial ownership information in a timely manner

Capacity Building, Training, and Awareness-Raising

In addition, the strategy aims to consolidate capacity building, training, and awareness-raising programs by:

• Identifying AML/CFT training needs across the public and private sectors
• Developing appropriate training programs
• Designing and delivering programs for raising awareness on AML/CFT matters with relevant stakeholders
• Conducting outreach to financial institutions, DNFBPs, NPOs to ensure better understanding of ML/TF risks

Implementing an Effective Data Collection System

The strategy also emphasizes implementing an effective AML/CFT data collection system by:

• Carrying out an in-depth review of the AML/CFT data collection process of all relevant agencies
• Establishing good practices to ensure that the AML/CFT data collected is consistent, accurate, and updated
• Ensuring that each AML/CFT stakeholder keeps AML/CFT data on a computerized database

Implementation Timeline

The implementation of the strategy will be overseen by the National AML/CFT Committee, with the support of the National AML/CFT Secretariat. The committee will monitor and review the implementation of the strategy and report to the Cabinet of Ministers on progress made in implementing the national strategy and national action plan.

Timeline for Implementation

The implementation of the national strategy is expected to be completed by 2022, with key milestones and deadlines outlined in the following table:

The government of Mauritius is committed to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and this national strategy will help to achieve that goal.