Half of the year 2011 has already gone by and a lot has been achieved in the last few months. GIIF’s Technical Committee (“TC”) on New Products and Market Diversification, chaired by Mr Richard Arlove, has met several times and the outcome has been the creation of specific working groups. The TC’s contributing members include Mr. Sunil Benimadhu, Mr Ashish Jagarnath, Mr. Ashwin Jankee, Mr Ben Lim, Mr Gerald Lincoln, Mr. Fareed Soreefan, Mr Assad Abdullatif, and Mr. Georges Chung.
The aim of the working groups is to discuss and provide recommendations from the industry to grow each specific sector and be eventually submitted to the Ministry of Finance. The working groups created so far are as follows:
A review of the Mauritius Tax System
This working group is chaired by Mr Gary Gowrea and the contributing members include Mr Wasoudeo Balloo, Mr Ashish Bheekharry, Mr Ashvin Dwarka, Mr Amit Gupta, Mr Deven Marianen, Mr Ruben Mooneesawmy, and Mr Anthony Leung Shing. The working group meets fortnightly and aims at reviewing the Mauritius tax system and comparing it to tax systems in other International Financial Centres and analysing the pros and cons.
The future of Private Banking and Wealth Management (“PBWM”) in Mauritius
This working group is chaired by Mr James Benoit and the contributing members include Mr Howard Evans, Mr Shomika Luchmun, Mr Vikram Singh Ramdaursingh, and Mr Jerome Katz. The aim of this working group is to define what PBWM means for Mauritius, assess its potentials and define the enabling factors required to pave the way forward.
The case for Shipping and Aircraft Registration in Mauritius (in the pipeline)
This working group is to be chaired by Mr Marc Hein and aims to present the business case for Shipping and Aircraft Registration in Mauritius, and what is required to make this sector a reality. The contributing members to this working group are yet to be confirmed.
The case for making Mauritius into a Regional Headquarter (“RHQ”) (in the pipeline)
This working group aims at making Mauritius into an RHQ for global companies and providing all the enabling factors to make this happen based on the Singapore model.
Other new products that are to be pushed by the TC include the Tax Exempt Funds and Incorporated Cell Company.
GIIF is also following up regularly with the Ministry of Finance on the finalisation of the Limited Partnership and Foundation Bills.
GIIF reiterate the view that the additional Data Protection Act (“DPA”) compliance requirement will undermine the competitiveness of our financial services sector, which impacts over 30,000 Global Business Companies. GIIF has also voiced out its views on the DPA during its monthly meeting with the Ministry of Finance, and has sent a corresponding letter to the Prime Minister’s Office in this regard.
GIIF is still waiting for a date to depone in front of the India Standing Committee regarding the India Direct Tax Code. Rehearsal meetings are being scheduled to prepare the speakers for the deponement.
GIIF had published a press communique in the Economic Times of India on Monday 4th July 2011 in response of the press articles that appeared in India following the rumours regarding illicit funds being channelled through Mauritius . GIIF will also be pushing for the hiring of a PR firm to set the records straight in the international press.
GIIF Operational Committee meetings are held in parallel to these technical committee and working group meetings on a fortnightly basis, and GIIF Trustees' Meetings are held on a monthly basis. These meetings deal with strategic, policy and relationship matters of GIIF.
Lastly, Steve Flynn has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of GIIF and Mr Gaurav Verma, Director of US India Business Council (USIBC), has joined GIIF as a member of its Advisory Council. The role of the Advisory Council is to advise and guide the Trustees on strategic issues.
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