The Mauritian government's efforts to get out of the European Commission's list of high-risk third countries - which entered into force yesterday - will be put to the test on October 23 during the plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). And this, in order to get out of the gray list of this group and subsequently from the black list of the European Commission.

The Joint Group for the Africa-Middle East region will present on this occasion the conclusions of the discussions it had with the Mauritian authorities in September regarding the implementation of the action plan formulated by the FATF. In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Financial Services tries to reassure Mauritian operators. It is said that the competent authorities have also undertaken substantive work with foreign and correspondent banks to facilitate cross-border transactions in view of the deadline of October 1, 2020, in order to maintain confidence within our jurisdiction.

"The government reiterates its commitment to continue to implement the FATF action plan and also wishes to reassure local and international investors that Mauritius remains committed at the highest level to complete the FATF plan as soon as possible", underlines the communicated.

Making the history of the inclusion of Mauritius on May 7 on the blacklist of the European Commission, the Ministry of Financial Services indicates that the European Commission (EC) has published a list of third countries at high risk including 11 States identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) including Mauritius. This list is in effect since yesterday. The press release therefore underlines that Mauritius had already undertaken to implement, according to an anticipated timetable, the action plan formulated by the FATF in order to be removed from the list of the latter and subsequently from that of the European Commission. Among the measures deployed, there is talk of a technical assistance platform between the Directorate General of Financial Services of the European Commission and the Mauritian authorities to inform the EC of the concrete progress made by Mauritius. On July 17, 2020, the EC confirmed that there would be no additional conditions required for Mauritius to be removed from the European list.

According to the Ministry of Financial Services, local and international financial institutions established in Mauritius have been regularly informed of progress in the implementation of the action plan. Maurice submitted:

i) a first report in March 2020 which could not be considered by the FATF due to the pandemic;

(ii) a report updated on July 31, 2020 and

iii) a final report on August 31, 2020.

In addition, at the request of Mauritius, a virtual meeting was organized on September 8 between the FATF and the Mauritian authorities responsible for implementing the action plan. The ministry clarified that during the meeting, the Joint Group of the Africa-Middle East (JG) region highlighted the effort and measures taken by Mauritius despite the difficult circumstances resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and also welcomed the progress made so far. “The JG noted that the government is taking the action plan seriously and is making it a priority to complete the plan ahead of the deadline. In addition, they strongly encourage local authorities to continue their actions in the same vein. The JG will submit the aforementioned findings to the FATF Plenary to be held in the month of October 2020,” the statement continued.

The Ministry of Financial Services points out that the competent authorities have also done substantive work with foreign and correspondent banks to facilitate cross-border transactions in view of the October 1, 2020 deadline, in order to maintain confidence in the local jurisdiction.