Banking License (BL) License in Mauritius
Level 1
Mauritius0
People viewed this LicenseLicense Type
Banking License (BL)
RegulatorBOM
Share CapitalN/A
Deadlines
12 to 24 months(approx.)
Estimated Market Price
From €150,000
Level 1
MauritiusEstimated Market Price
From €150,000
0
People viewed this LicenseLicense Type
Banking License (BL)
RegulatorBOM
Share CapitalN/A
Deadlines
12 to 24 months (approx.)
Level 2
License Details
Explore full requirements, allowed activities, taxation, and operational scope.
Permitted Activities
Deposit‑taking
current/savings
cards
payment services
Granting credit
guarantees
trade finance
FX & money market
derivatives per BoM policy
Investment services (advice/dealing) if authorised
Custody/settlement and ancillary services per law
Frequently Asked Questions
Clear, concise info to help you understand the process!
No, but the file is recent enough that counterparties still check it. Mauritius was placed on the FATF grey list in February 2020 and on the EU's list of high-risk third countries later that year, and was removed by the FATF in October 2021 and by the European Commission through Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/229 of 7 January 2022, published in the Official Journal on 21 February 2022 and in force from 13 March 2022, after rebuilding AML supervision, its beneficial ownership register and its sanctioning practice. No authority has re-listed it since: Mauritius appears on neither the FATF grey nor black list as at the June 2026 update, nor on the EU high-risk list published in January 2026, nor on HM Treasury's advisory notice of 22 June 2026. What that left behind is a supervisory culture formed under scrutiny, with documented risk assessments expected at inspection. Ask for the target's last full onsite inspection report and every open remediation item.
No, and the two are routinely confused in offers. A banking licence is issued by the Bank of Mauritius under the Banking Act 2004 and is the only authorisation permitting deposit taking. The Global Business Licence and the Authorised Company are Financial Services Commission regimes for companies conducting business outside Mauritius, and neither allows taking deposits or holding client money as a bank. The old Category 1 and Category 2 banking split was abolished, so there is now a single banking licence covering domestic and cross-border business. If the seller names the FSC as regulator, it is not a bank.
Enough that it cannot credibly be run from somewhere else. Substance rules require management and control in Mauritius: resident directors, board meetings held and minuted on the island, accounting records kept locally, a Mauritian bank account, and a documented level of local employment and expenditure proportionate to the activity. For a licensed bank the Bank of Mauritius goes further, expecting risk, compliance, internal audit and the money laundering reporting function to be staffed locally by individually approved people. A buyer planning a nominee board and offshore management will fail that test.
Less mechanically than it once did — and the newest change is not yet live. The 2016 protocol to the India–Mauritius treaty removed the capital gains exemption for shares acquired from 1 April 2017, grandfathering only earlier holdings. A further protocol signed on 7 March 2024 adds a principal purpose test, but it is not in force: the Mauritian Cabinet approved ratification on 17 July 2026, India has still not issued the notification required under section 90 of its Income-tax Act, and neither state has notified the other that its procedures are complete, so the unamended treaty with its existing grandfathering continues to apply. India's own general anti-avoidance rule applies alongside it regardless. Treaty access now turns on demonstrable substance and a commercial reason for the Mauritius entity to exist, rather than on a tax residence certificate by itself.
That answer decides whether the acquisition is usable at all. Much of the sector's business is cross-border, and cross-border business runs on USD and EUR correspondent accounts held with a handful of institutions that apply their own de-risking policies to small banks in offshore centres. Those relationships are reviewed when ownership changes, and the review looks at the new beneficial owners' own country risk as much as at the bank. Confirm the live correspondent list, the date of the last review, and whether any relationship is under notice.
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