The National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (“National Committee”) has been established pursuant to Section 19A of FIAMLA. The FIU, through its Director is a member of the National Committee. The National Committee is mandated to:

• coordinate the development, regular review and implementation of national policies and activities to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (ML/TF/PF);
• assess the effectiveness of policies and measures to combat ML/TF/PF;
• make recommendations to the Minister for legislative, regulatory and policy reforms for the purposes of combating ML/TF/PF;
• promote co-ordination among public sector authorities with a view to improving the effectiveness of existing policies;
• formulate policies to protect the international repute of Mauritius;
• generally advise the Minister on AML/CFT matters, as the Minister may refer to the National Committee; and
• keep the Core Group informed on a regular basis of matters related to its functions.

A Core Group for Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation (“Core Group”) has been established pursuant to Section 19AA of FIAMLA. The FIU, through its Director is a member of the Core Group. The functions of the Core Group are to:

• ensure the effective implementation, by the relevant competent authorities of the FATF standards;
• make recommendations to the Prime Minister on matters, including implementation, strategy and international developments, pertaining to AML/CFT;
• decide on matters pertaining to the implementation of AML/CFT standards which a relevant competent authority may refer to it;
• ensure effective coordination and cooperation with the National Committee and among all competent authorities; and
• do such acts or things as are incidental or conducive to the fulfilment of its functions.

An Interagency Coordination Committee (“ICC”) was set up for the effective implementation of the AML/CFT regime under the Memorandum of Cooperation (“MoC”) signed by the Financial Intelligence Unit and other AML/CFT Supervisors. Signed on 26 August 2020, the MoC facilitates policy formulation, exchange of information and operational coordination to effectively combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation. The signatories to the MoC are the:

• Bank of Mauritius;
• Financial Services Commission;
• Attorney General’s Office;
• Financial Intelligence Unit;
• Registrar of Companies;
• Gambling Regulatory Authority;
• Registrar of Associations; and
• Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants.

The National Sanctions Committee (NSC) and National Sanctions Secretariat (NSSEC) have been established under Sections 4 and 7 of The United Nations (Financial Prohibitions, Arms Embargo and Travel Ban) Sanctions Act 2019 respectively. The NSC promotes and coordinates the implementation in Mauritius of United Nations Security Council Resolutions and meets at least once a month. The National Sanctions Secretariat within the Prime Minister’s Office supports the work of the National Sanctions Committee.

Visit the National Sanctions Secretariat website for more information.

The FIU strongly embraces domestic cooperation and information exchange to improve the AML/CFT combat. In this context, the FIU has over the years entered into several Memoranda of Understanding (“MoUs”) with its AML/CFT partners to formally recognize the cooperation that exist between them. Domestic MoUs include: