The Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, or commonly known as the FSC, is the sole supervisor of all the non-bank financial service providers, forex brokerage firms, and global businesses in all of Mauritius. Ever since its establishment in 2001, FSC has licensed and regulated the financial activities of the aforementioned sectors in terms of their legitimacy, authenticity, and fairness under the Financial Services Act 2007, the Securities Act 2005, the Insurance Act 2005, and the Private Pension Schemes Act 2012. As with any other noted regulatory authority in the world, it is FSC’s wish to be among the most recognized regulators in regards to presenting Mauritius as a safe and secure financial center to all of those who want to conduct their business within as well as outside its borders. To that end, the organization sees to it that all the parties involved, including financial institutions, forex brokerage companies, capital markets, and even individual traders are fair, efficient, and transparent in their dealings in order to improve the economy of Mauritius in terms of stability and prosperity. It stands to reason that FSC protects its members against those who commit malpractice and step outside the parameters of the law. Furthermore, FSC, under the Anti-Corruption Commitment by the ICAC, takes the necessary precautions such as educating the employees, providing awareness to the public, regular evaluations, and constant monitoring to prevent corruption from happening in the financial sector. The FSC understands that the relationship between regulators, and therefore, cross-border supervision could help to stabilize the financial systems. For that reason, FSC has signed the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with its counterparts within as well as outside the borders. The signed MoU helps to unify the supervision on an international level, provide mechanisms for sharing info, and establish a better collaboration for fighting fraudulent activities such as money laundering and financing terrorism.
The FSC knows that solid regulatory supervision must be administered so Mauritius’s economy can shine in the financial services sector; this outlook explains the revision of the legislative framework in 2007 as well as enforcing the Risk-Based Supervision framework. Moreover, to keep a steady balance between regulatory measures and business development in all of its aspects, these laws and legislations must be periodically reviewed and examined. In other words, FSC makes sure that all the activities of its members are above board and the code of conduct is observed in their business dealings in terms of fairness, efficiency, and transparency. In addition, FSC constantly looks for new approaches to ameliorate the financial services sector to create a better business environment for all. The responsibilities of FSC also include preventing fraud and money laundering by enforcing an Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework in conjunction with international standards. Of course, all of these painstaking measures are taken to ensure the development of the entire economy in Mauritius. Last but not least, all investors and customers must be educated and aware of the risks that they are about to take, for which FSC provides all the required information publicly. Other areas of responsibility include monitoring licensees’ financial status, the legitimacy of their activities, encouraging the public interest and confidence in the financial system, and making sure the reputation of Mauritius as an international financial center is not tarnished.
