News snippets from the Global Business Industry and others
Global Business & Financial Services
FSC: End of Grandfathering provision for GBC2
Pursuant to the enactment of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 (the “Finance Act 2018”) in the same year, several changes were made to the Global Business regulatory framework as summarised below...
FSC: Regulatory relief from administrative penalties for late filing of financial statements –Deadline for due dates extended
With regards to the current lockdown situation, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has taken the decision to extend the timeline for filing of financial statements, statutory returns, risk management framework, auditor’s report and actuary report (collectively referred to as “RMF Returns”) for (including those registered as Reporting Issuers) as follows...
Updates to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism Handbook 2020
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has brought the following important updates to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Handbook 2020 further to its first AML/CFT supervisory cycle 2020-2021...
SEM: Extension of deadline for publication of abridged financial statement for year ended 31 December 2020
The Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) has granted an extension of 1 month for the publication of the Abridged Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 given the current lockdown situation.
MRA: Deadline for Country by Country (CbC) Reporting extended
In view of the implementation of a nationwide lockdown, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) released a communique on 26 March informing the public that the deadline for the filing of CbC Report/notification to MRA under the Income Tax (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations 2018 for entities having accounting period ended 31 March 2020 has exceptionally been extended until 20 April 2021.
Click here to read the full communique by the MRA.
Finance & Economy
Coming into force of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement
As communicated in our last e-news1, the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between Mauritius and India was signed on 22 February 2021. It will be recalled that the CECPA became the first agreement signed between India and an African country.
African Continental Free Trade Area: Submission of draft schedule of tariff concessions
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was signed in March 2018 and came to effect on 1 January 20211. With regards to the tariff concessions of Mauritius on the remaining 10 percent tariff lines, the submission of a draft schedule has been agreed upon.
COMESA: Online Portal for Covid-19 related activities
As part of its long-term regional integration agenda, the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Free Trade Agreement (COMESA) Free Trade Area was launched in October 2000 following the decision of nine member states (Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to eliminate their tariffs on COMESA originating products.
BOM signs a MoU with and Bangko Sentral NG Pilipinas
The Bank of Mauritius (BoM) has announced through a communique on 18 March 2021 that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the central bank of Philippines - Bangko Sentral NG Pilipinas (BSP) - in a collective bid to reinforce the bilateral ties between the two countries.
Mauritius joins the African Development Bank Bloomberg Index
An attested tool to measure and track African Sovereign Bond Markets, the Bloomberg African Bond Indices (ABABI) aims at deepening the continent’s sovereign local currency bond markets as well as providing reliable benchmark indices to investors.
Democracy Index 2020: Mauritius ranks 1st in Africa and 20th wordwide
The Democracy Index (the “Index”) is a measure of the global state of democracy through the comprehensive analysis of multiple factors across 165 independent nations and two territories.
World Happiness Report 2021: Mauritius ranks 1st in Africa and 50th worldwide
The latest World Happiness Report, unsurprisingly, focused on how people from over the World have dealt with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Economic Value of Peace 2021: Mauritius ranks among top 15 most peaceful countries
The Economic Value of Peace Report (the “Report”) by the Institute for Economic and Peace (IEP) is a gauge of the economic impact of violence and conflict on the global economy. The Report aims at bringing forward the costs –direct and indirect- of violence as well as the expenditures involved to contain and prevent violence.
Latest updates: Extension of lockdown in Mauritius until 30 April 2021
As at the date of this writing, the ongoing contact tracing and random testing exercises have led to the detection of 490 local cases since 5 March 2021. Out of these, 367 are still active and 117 have recovered. 2 deaths due to Covid-19 were also recorded. In a bid to curb the further spread of the virus, the nationwide was further prolonged to 30 April.
Extension of Visas and Grant of Permission to Stay to Residence Permit and Occupation Holders in Mauritius
In view of the current Covid-19 lockdown situation in Mauritius, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has taken the decision to extend the visa and grant permission to stay in Mauritius until 31 May 2021 (or until the lockdown is lifted, whichever occurs first) to Non-citizens having Visas or Residence Permits or Occupation Permits that are expiring during the lock down period.
The Passport and Immigration Office remains at the disposal of non-citizens to aid in resolving their situations.
ITL Data Protection compliance programme - Reminder
As you are aware, we hold your contact details on our database and have been sending you regular newsletters and updates about the latest developments in the Mauritius financial landscape and other areas of interest.
Following recent changes in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Mauritius Data Protection Act 2017, we now require your consent to hold your personal data. Please click here to confirm that you still want to hear from us and get the latest news about the Mauritius International Financial Centre.
Should you wish to opt out of our future e-mail communications, please click here to stop receiving correspondence from ITL. Alternatively, you may use the unsubscribe button at the bottom of all our communications or send us an e-mail at unews@intercontinentaltrust.com
Data security and protection is of prime importance to us and we invite you to read our privacy policy which provides information about how we manage and process your personal information.
We are only a phone call or an e-mail away. If you have any comments, questions or concerns about any of the information in our policy, or any issues relating to the processing of personal data by ITL, please contact your regular contact person at ITL or write to us on dpo@intercontinentaltrust.com
DISCLAIMER
The information in this e-newsletter was prepared by Intercontinental Trust Limited to provide potential clients with a broad overview of the opportunities available in Mauritius. While all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of this e-newsletter, Intercontinental Trust Limited accepts no responsibility for any errors it may contain, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, or for any loss, however caused, sustained by any person that relies on it. Readers are advised to consult with appropriate, qualified professional advisors before taking action. Intercontinental Trust Limited will be pleased to discuss any specific issues.
