30 September 2013

Global Financial Centres Index 14

The latest Global Financial Centres Index, GFCI 14, covering 80 financial centres is published today by the Z/Yen Group.

GFCI 14 uses 25,749 financial centre assessments completed by 2,786 financial services professionals. The GFCI is updated regularly and ratings change as assessments and instrumental factors change.  

To view the GFCI 14 report, please see:  

26 September 2013

Barclays Mauritius announces improved banking services tariff for international clients

In response to the Client Satisfaction Survey feedback received from their valued Global Management Company partners and clients, Barclays is launching a revised and highly competitive banking tariff with effect from 28 October 2013.

Account maintenance fee

Unlike many of its international competitors, Barclays does not currently impose a minimum balance or turnover requirement for new and existing clients. Whilst Barclays will continue with this philosophy in their revised tariff, they will be introducing a modest minimum client balance fee of $25 per quarter for clients with aggregate balances of less than $500,000 in any quarter, to offset the cost of account maintenance. The account maintenance fee will be introduced on 1 January 2014 to allow time for clients to top up their balances if required.

25 September 2013

Mauritius : IOSCO AMERC Memorandum of Understanding

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) Mauritius has signed the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Africa Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 18 September 2013 at the IOSCO Annual Conference 2013 in Luxembourg.

The FSC is signatory to the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU) and a member of IOSCO - AMERC.

“We believe that the signature of this MoU will further intensify cooperation between African counterparts. This MoU is another testimony to the FSC’s commitment to exchange information and enhance mutual cooperation among AMERC members,” said Ms Clairette Ah-Hen, Chief Executive of the FSC following the signature ceremony.

The AMERC fully supports the IOSCO MMoU and is committed to encouraging those members who are seeking to become signatories. Members of the AMERC acknowledge the importance of supervisory cooperation and wish to commit themselves to cooperating in matters beyond enforcement. Supervisory cooperation recognises the need to exchange general and more specific information about matters of regulatory concern, technical expertise, surveillance, investor education and the sharing of information related to systemic risks.

Note:

Africa/Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) of International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is the umbrella body of capital market regulators in the Region having as objectives to inter alia:
  • exchange information on issues of common interest amongst members;
  • identify and discuss specific issues of interest common to member countries;
  • improve communication among members; and
  • encourage countries within the region to develop their capital markets
The AMERC has 25 members that meet to share information, promote fair and transparent markets and enhance regulatory cooperation in the African and Middle East region.

List of AMERC Members:
  1. Commission d'organisation et de surveillance des opérations de bourse, Algeria
  2. Central Bank of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain
  3. Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, Egypt
  4. Securities and Exchange Commission, Ghana
  5. Israel Securities Authority, Israel
  6. Johannesburg Stock Exchange
  7. Jordan Securities Commission, Jordan
  8. Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
  9. Reserve Bank of Malawi, Malawi
  10. Financial Services Commission, Republic of Mauritius
  11. Conseil déontologique des valeurs mobilières, Morocco
  12. Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria
  13. Nigerian Stock Exchange, Nigeria
  14. Capital Market Authority, Saudi Arabia
  15. Capital Market Authority, Sultanate of Oman
  16. Financial Services Board, South Africa
  17. Syrian Commission for Financial Markets and Securities, Syria
  18. Capital Markets and Securities Authority, Tanzania
  19. Conseil du marché financier, Tunisia
  20. Capital Market Authority, Uganda
  21. Securities and Commodities Authority, United Arab Emirates
  22. Conseil régional de l'épargne publique et des marchés financiers, West African Monetary Union
  23. Securities and Exchange Commission, Zambia
  24. Union of Arab Securities Authorities
   Associate Members (Non-Voting Members)

   25.  Dubai Financial Services Authority, Dubai

24 September 2013

FT Special Report - Doing Business in Jersey

An FT Special Report entitled "Doing Business in Jersey" was launched today at a 100 people strong reception in London.  The supplement, printed in today's Financial Times alongside the Autumn edition of FT Wealth magazine, gives an overview of the challenges the island has faced in recent years, and the positive steps it has taken to address those challenges and boost the island's economy through inward investment, investment in infrastructure and technology and changes to both government and industry. 

View the article online here or download the PDF

21 September 2013

WSJ - Offshore Accounts: No Place to Hide?

The U.S.'s intense crackdown on tax evasion is entering a new phase.

What a difference a few years can make.

For decades U.S. tax authorities did little to enforce laws on offshore accounts. Some people felt free to hide assets abroad in a web of secret accounts, and many U.S. citizens living abroad didn't bother to file returns with Uncle Sam as long as they paid local taxes.


20 September 2013

Sen. Carl Levin - Ending tax-haven loopholes is smart way to bring down deficit

Back in March when Congress failed to reach a deficit reduction agreement, we triggered budget sequestration – the unprioritized, across-the-board cuts that have hurt families, national security, life-saving research, students and seniors, and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, cut as much as a full percentage point from economic growth.

Our economy can’t afford that kind of damage. And yet, sequestration continues, and it will continue unless we act.

A balanced, bipartisan deficit reduction package is the only alternative. Balance requires three elements: First, cuts in discretionary spending – not mindless, meat ax sequestration, but targeted, prioritized cuts. Second, we need to reform entitlement programs. And third, we must add federal revenue.

Which brings me to my least-favorite four letter words: “loop” and “hole.”

The United States hemorrhages hundreds of billions of dollars in tax revenue each year to a relatively small group of multinational companies. These large, profitable companies are headquartered here, they do business here, and they benefit from the safety and stability of living and working in the United States. Yet they use an array of complex arrangements involving offshore tax loopholes to avoid paying their taxes. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I chair, has spent more than a decade examining these loopholes and the damage they do.

Michigan’s working families and small business owners don’t have an army of lawyers and lobbyists to concoct ever-more-creative tax gimmicks. So they’re left to pick up the burden left when our biggest, most profitable companies use tactics like these:
  • Microsoft’s U.S parent company sold intellectual property rights to a foreign subsidiary, then licensed them back, shifting profits from products that were developed, made and sold in the United States to an offshore tax haven and paying almost no U.S. taxes on those profits.
  • Hewlett Packard, which socked billions of dollars in revenue away in offshore subsidiaries, managed to bring huge sums back to the United States, which should have triggered a big tax bill, using a series of short-term loans from two offshore subsidiaries to get around rules that require tax payments when money comes back to the United States.
  • Apple managed what we consider the Holy Grail of offshore tax avoidance, setting up subsidiaries, which hold a large part of the $100 billion in cash Apple holds offshore, that are literally invisible for tax purposes. These subsidiaries are incorporated in Ireland but controlled from the United States. Because U.S. tax law bases tax residency on the place of incorporation, and Irish tax law bases tax residency on where a corporation is controlled, Apple says these subsidiaries are tax resident nowhere and therefore paid almost no corporate income tax to any country. For tax purposes, they’re ghost companies.
We should close these loopholes on principle, regardless of deficits or sequestration. They’re simply unfair. But surely now, with sequestration doing so much harm, we should close these loopholes and use the revenue we recover as part of the foundation of a balanced deficit reduction plan.

That’s why on Sept. 19 I introduced the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, a comprehensive effort to end these loopholes and gimmicks and bring more fairness to the tax code. This bill, cosponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Mark Begich of Alaska and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, would tackle an array of offshore corporate tax abuses.

It would end tax breaks that encourage businesses to move jobs and operations offshore. It would end the legal fiction that allows corporations to avoid U.S. tax on income they route through offshore subsidiaries that are nothing more than a post office box, or that allow multinationals to avoid taxes by literally “checking a box” on their tax forms to shield offshore subsidiaries from taxes.

The provisions of our bill would, according to official estimates, reduce the deficit by about $220 billion. If we used that revenue as one part of a balanced deficit reduction plan, we could avoid six years or more of sequestration. And the public supports that plan: Last year, a poll showed that 75 percent of Americans support closing offshore tax loopholes to reduce the deficit.

We have plenty of legitimate disagreements here in Washington. But all of us should be able to agree that these offshore tax loopholes are unfair. All of us should see the opportunity before us: to end these gimmicks, relieve our economy of the burden of sequestration, and relieve our families and small businesses from the tax burden a handful of large, profitable companies have dumped on them.

17 September 2013

Federal Court Orders Alex Ekdeshman and Paramount Management, LLC, to Pay over $2.4 million in Restitution and a Fine for Fraudulent Foreign Currency Scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a federal court consent Order against Defendants Alex Ekdeshman of Holmdel, New Jersey, and Paramount Management, LLC (Paramount), requiring them to pay $1,146,000 in restitution to their defrauded customers and a $1,337,000 civil monetary penalty. The Consent Order of Permanent Injunction also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against the Defendants and prohibits them from violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.

The Order was entered on September 9, 2013, by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York and stems from a CFTC Complaint filed against the Defendants on June 26, 2013. The CFTC’s Complaint charged Ekdeshman, individually and as the agent of Paramount, with solicitation fraud and misappropriating “the vast majority” of customer funds for business expenses. Specifically, the Complaint charged the Defendants with operating a fraudulent scheme that solicited more than $1.3 million from approximately 110 retail customers to engage in leveraged or margined foreign currency (forex) transactions with unregistered off-shore counterparties. The Defendants allegedly advised customers that forex trading accounts would be opened in the customer’s name and would be traded by the Defendants on behalf of the customer.

Furthermore, the Defendants, through a telemarketing sales force and a “Performance Record” linked to their website, touted Paramount’s successful trading record as having yielded an average monthly return of 4.6% over a 20-month period, based on the performance of Paramount’s proprietary trading software system, according to the Complaint.

However, the court’s Order finds that, contrary to the claims made during the solicitations, the Defendants did not manage or trade any customer account, and thus Paramount’s customers neither made actual purchases of any forex nor received delivery of forex. The Order also finds that the Defendants misappropriated all customer funds for Ekdeshman’s personal benefit and failed to disclose to actual or prospective customers that they were misappropriating customer funds. To conceal their fraud, the Order finds that, during all phases of the scheme, the Defendants issued false account statements to their customers, as no individual customer accounts were ever created and no profits were ever generated.

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Services Commission Mauritius, and the Financial Services Board of the Republic of South Africa.

Further, the CFTC appreciates the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, the National Futures Association, and the Federal Trade Commission.

ATol: Central banks and illusions of independence

The cult of personality around central bankers is encouraged by their not having a clear and enforceable mandate - certainly in the United States. That's one reason we hardly hear about Swiss politicians or central bankers: their unique direct democracy prevents them from pursuing drastic follies.

16 September 2013

Nishith Desai Associates - India Based Managers not to lead to tax exposure for Offshore Funds: A Proposal

In a bid to encourage fund managers to operate from India, the Indian Government has now sought to clarify that activities undertaken and services provided by fund managers to offshore funds would not constitute a ‘business connection’ or result in a ‘permanent establishment’ of an offshore fund (or its investors) being constituted in India.

The proposed safe harbor from domestic taxation for offshore funds would follow the precedents in UK and other jurisdictions. UK allows investment manager exemptions to offshore funds from having a taxable presence in respect of certain types of investment transactions which may otherwise be considered to constitute trading in the UK through an investment manager.

A circular is expected to be issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (“CBDT”) based on the recommendations by the Finance Minister to this effect. Such a clarification would be extremely welcome for the fund management industry and could help to establish India as a centre for fund management.

BACKGROUND

What constitutes permanent establishment. Management teams for India focused offshore funds are typically based outside India as an onshore fund manager enhances the risk of the fund being perceived as having a permanent establishment (“PE”) in India. Although tax treaties provide for the concept of a PE in Article 5 (as derived from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) and United Nations (“UN”) Model Convention), the expression has not been exhaustively defined anywhere. The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in CIT v. Visakhapatnam Port Trust (144 ITR 146), held that:

“The words “permanent establishment” postulate the existence of a substantial element of an enduring or permanent nature of a foreign enterprise in another country which can be attributed to a fixed place of business in that country. It should be of such a nature that it would amount to a virtual projection of the foreign enterprise of one country into the soil of another country.”

The presence of the manager in India could be construed as a place of management of the offshore fund and thus the manager could be held to constitute a permanent establishment. Consequently, the profits of the offshore fund to the extent attributable to the permanent establishment, may be subject to additional tax in India.

What tantamount to business connection in the context of an offshore fund? ‘Business connection’ is the Indian domestic tax law equivalent of the concept of PE under a tax treaty scenario. The term business connection, however, is much wider. The term has been provided as an inclusive definition per Explanation 2 to Section 9(1)(i) of the Income tax Act, 1961 (“ITA”), whereby a ‘business connection’ shall be constituted if any business activity is carried out through a person who (acting on behalf of the non-resident) has and habitually exercises in India and has the authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the non-resident. Thus, the legislative intent suggests that (in absence of a tax treaty between India and the jurisdiction in which the offshore fund has been set up) under the business connection rule, an India based fund manager may be identified as a ‘business connection’ for the concerned offshore fund.

It is important to note that the phrase ‘business connection’ is incapable of exhaustive enumeration, given that the ITA provides an explanatory meaning of the term which has been defined inclusively. A close financial association between a resident and a non-resident entity may result in a business connection for the latter in India.1 The terms of mandate and the nature of activities of a fund manager are such that they can be construed as being connected with the business activity of the offshore fund in India.

Accordingly, offshore funds did not typically retain fund managers based in India when a very real possibility existed that the fund manager could be perceived as a PE or a business connection for the fund in India. Instead, many fund managers that manage India focused offshore funds, tend to be based outside India and only have an advisory relationship in India that provide recommendatory services.

ANALYSIS

It is anticipated that CBDT will issue a clarification that activities undertaken and services provided by fund managers do not constitute a business connection between the fund manager and the offshore fund or the investors in such fund, nor create a PE of such fund or its investors in India.

Globally, fund investors (‘LPs’) prefer management teams that are closer to the asset for both investment identification and preservation of value. The above CBDT clarification should provide much needed relief in addressing such structuring concerns.

Fund management requires management of assets and risks. From a transfer pricing perspective, a higher income allocation may be sought by the tax authority in respect of the Indian entity carrying out management activities.

Another concern arises from the perspective of the general anti-avoidance regulations (“GAAR”) which comes into effect on April 1, 2016. These provisions empower the tax authorities to declare any arrangement as an “impermissible avoidance arrangement” provided the arrangement has been entered into with the main purpose being that of obtaining a tax benefit and involve arrangements that lack or are deemed to lack commercial substance. The tax authorities may deny tax benefits even if conferred under a tax treaty, in case of an impermissible avoidance arrangement.

The presence of the management team in a particular jurisdiction, adds to the justification of why the fund was set up in such jurisdiction from a commercial substance perspective. This contention may not be available if the fund manager is based in India.

CONCLUSION

The CBDT clarification as and when issued, shall be a paradigm shift for the Indian fund management industry and would encourage high-value-ended fund management activities being carried out from India. It is relevant to note that India will follow in the footsteps of other countries who have already adopted a similar regime such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, United States and New Zealand. The exemptions typically provide a ‘safe-harbour’ to prevent offshore funds from having a taxable presence (in the nature of either PE or business connection) in respect of certain identified types of investment transactions.2

In the Indian context, certain issues however remain. We will need to wait and watch for the actual text of the circular and see if issues relating to GAAR / entitlement to treaty benefits are addressed. Further, while the offshore fund may be insulated as a result of the proposed circular, issues relating to transfer pricing and management fees may still need to be addressed.

Until the tax and regulatory regimes are aligned to make India an attractive jurisdiction for pooling capital, management teams for India focused offshore funds may continue to operate from abroad.

- Prasad Subramanyan, Richie Sancheti & Nishchal Joshipura 

1 CIT v. Bombay Trust Corpn, 4 ITC 442.

2 See Review of an Investment Manager Regime as it relates to foreign managed funds, Board of Taxation – Australian Government, available at 
http://www.taxboard.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=reviews_and_consultations/collective_investment_vehicles/report/html/Appendix_B_and_C.htm (last visited on September 14, 2013).

14 September 2013

Mauritius : Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

On 13 September 2013 the Government of Mauritius agreed to the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) and an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the USA for the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), enacted by the USA in March 2010, and to allow the Financial Services Sector to maintain its global competitiveness. The main objective of FATCA is to identify United States persons behind foreign financial holdings and communicate their investment information, i.e., name, address, account number, account balance and income derived from such investments, to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

The Government of Mauritius will move ahead with a FATCA implementation strategy based on the Model 1 IGA. Under the proposed Model 1 IGA, the Government of Mauritius agrees to direct Financial Institutions (as defined under the relevant legislation and the IGA) in Mauritius to compile the requisite information on United States persons and to electronically transmit this information to the Mauritius Revenue Authority as the Competent Authority in Mauritius for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of FATCA through automatic exchange of such information to the IRS.

According to the International Monetary Fund 2011 Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey and the Coordinated Direct Investment Survey, around USD 12 billion were invested from the USA through Mauritius, and around USD 4.2 billion into the USA through the local Global Business Sector.

13 September 2013

Guernsey's finance industry shows stability in Q2, signs of growth in Q3

Guernsey's finance industry had a stable second quarter and is already showing signs of renewed growth in the second half of the year.

Previously released figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) showed an uptick across each of the investment funds, banking and insurance sectors during the first quarter of the year.

This has continued in the insurance sector, where there has been net growth of 37 entities between the end of last year and the end of July 2013. However, the net asset value of investment funds under management or administration in the Island fell £10.5 billion (3.5%) during the second quarter of the year and total deposits held with Guernsey banks decreased £0.8 billion (0.9%) during the same period.

Fiona Le Poidevin, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance - the promotional agency for the Island's finance industry, said: "The performance during the first quarter of the year was very pleasing but we recognised at the time that external factors, such as rising stock markets, were playing their part. The new figures for the second quarter show a relatively flat but stable picture and this is understandable when we consider that during the period we saw a correction in the wider equity markets.

"However, the industry is also showing signs of renewed growth during the second half of the year, with figures for the insurance sector showing continual increases in the net number of entities domiciled in the Island and there is anecdotal evidence from the funds sector of a pick-up in business coming through the pipeline, especially in the closed-ended, listed space."

Figures from the GFSC show that the total value of deposits held by banks in Guernsey fell by £0.8 billion (0.9%) during the second quarter to reach £89.7 billion at the end of June 2013. This leaves deposits 13% lower than at the same time a year ago.

Miss Le Poidevin said: "These are difficult times for the banking sector and Guernsey is not immune from the impact. However, despite continued global deleveraging and low interest rates, the Guernsey banking sector has stabilised to remain at around the £90 billion mark at the end of the second quarter."

The GFSC's quarterly report for the investment funds sector showed that the net asset value of funds under management and administration in Guernsey decreased by £10.5 billion (3.5%) during the second quarter of the year to reach £286 billion at the end of June 2013. However, this represents an increase of £15.2 billion (5.6%) on a year previous.

The Guernsey closed-ended sector was valued at £137.5 billion at the end of June - up £0.5 billion (0.4%) during the quarter and up £11.4 billion (9%) compared to 12 months earlier. Guernsey domiciled open-ended funds reached a net asset value of £49.7 billion at the end of June 2013, which was a decrease of £4.4 billion (8.1%) during the quarter and down £3.4 billion (6.4%) year on year. Non-Guernsey schemes, where some aspect of management, administration or custody is carried out in the Island, fell by £6.6 billion (6.3%) during the quarter to reach £98.8 billion at the end of June 2013, although that is £7.2 billion (7.9%) higher than the value at the end of June 2012.

Miss Le Poidevin said: "It is important to recognise that we remain in a tough environment and yet this is the first quarterly decline we have experienced in more than a year; the value of funds business is still £10 billion higher than at the end of December 2012 and our core closed-ended sector continues to grow. Indeed, since the end of the second quarter we have seen some notable developments which give rise to optimism for renewed growth during the second half of the year."

Miss Le Poidevin pointed to the repeat business of private equity fund Better Capital PCC raising another £185 million in what is its fourth fundraising period and Doric Nimrod Air Three - the latest in a trio of Guernsey-based investment companies - which successfully completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Specialist Fund Market (SFM) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and listing on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX).

She highlighted new business in the form of the innovative Bluefield Solar Income Fund, which raised £130 million in listing on the LSE at the end of July and The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), which raised £300 million on listing on the LSE in whatBloomberghas described as the 'UK's biggest initial public offering of a clean-power company'.

Miss Le Poidevin said: "These examples demonstrate that Guernsey is not only winning repeat business from existing promoters but that other groups are also recognising our strengths, most notably within the closed-ended, listed sector and in particular where there are investments into niche asset classes such as cleantech.

"We have also seen increased activity in the Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) asset class and this is driving business in the funds sector as well as the insurance space where there continues to be significant growth. This is across a range of business but there has been notable growth in the number of cells being established as fully collateralised reinsurance vehicles for ILS."

The GFSC's monthly statistical update for the insurance sector shows that there has been net growth - incorporating additions and surrenders - of 37 international insurance entities domiciled in Guernsey during the first seven months of the year, reaching a total of 774 at the end of July 2013. This is up 13 from the end of May and eight from the end of June.

Miss Le Poidevin added: "Guernsey's finance industry is in a positive position as we enter the final part of the year and Guernsey Finance will continue to work hard on both protecting the business we have in our traditional core markets and developing new streams from emerging and niche markets."

Mauritius: FSC Public Register of licensees

Communiqué – Public Register

As part of the Financial Services Commision’s (FSC) objectives to protect consumers of non-banking financial products and services and to disseminate information in the field of financial services, the FSC’s Register of licensees (maintained under section 26 of the Financial Services Act 2007 and section 6 of the Insurance Act 2005) has been made available on its website - www.fscmauritius.org

The website version of the Register does not currently contain details of all types of licensees of the FSC. Those willing to obtain information about types of licensees not yet included in the Register are kindly requested to contact the FSC.

It is to be noted that licensees holding only a Global Business Licence are not included in the above Register.

Financial Services Commission
12 September 2013

FT Special Report - Africa: Mauritius 2013

The traditional economic reliance on distant trading partners must give way to forging stronger links closer to home – but competition is fierce

The opposition sees the government as weak and vulnerable

Uneven expansion between sectors fuels fears of a bubble

Tax dispute offers incentive to sidestep India

‘Why can’t we be like Singapore?’ ask some Mauritians

Bourse’s efforts to offer a range of products have borne fruit

Pressure to curb the offshore industry is straining relations

Diversification is plugging the gap left by a drop in the number of European holidaymakers

Expansion into Africa as consumption rises rapidly

Download report

12 September 2013

Offshore Pilot Quarterly (September 2013, Volume 16 Number 3)

Pyramids, Punctures and Pancakes

I wonder if Steven Spielberg has considered making a film about financial chicanery?  I’m sure the central characters, if based on reality, would prove as fascinating for him as large underwater predators and extra-terrestrials have been in the past. In advance of preparing an article on offshore scams for a journal, I was reviewing one which I had written several years ago and I soon realised that the text of my article was as applicable now as it had been when I first wrote it; all that had changed was the year of my calendar.  The fact is that nothing had changed and that people have been falling into the same traps and swallowing the same improbable stories forever. 

Once again I remind regular readers of an anonymous pamphleteer’s thoughts when he wrote about the collapse of the South Sea Bubble (the 1720 plan to relieve Britain’s national debt in return for interests and sole trading rights in South America) still ring true today: “There must be a vast Fund of Stupidity in Human Nature, else Men would not be caught as they are, a thousand times over, by the same Snare; and while they yet remember their past misfortunes, go on to court and encourage the Causes to which they were owing, and which will again produce them”. It is no wonder Sir Isaac Newton observed that he could “calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people” and, in the same vein, Charles Mackay, when considering a title for his 1841 book about the 1630s tulipmania in the Netherlands, chose “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”. 

Despite some variances, the two most common ploys practised and written about are known as pyramid and Ponzi schemes.  Each fraudulent ruse relies on an ever-increasing number of new participants who, by supplying fresh contributions, provide funding for generous interest payments to earlier investors:  if, however, the metaphorical punctured tyre isn’t constantly pumped with air, soon there will be none left, leaving it as flat as a pancake. The pyramid scheme has its origins in the sale of detergent by a group of companies back in the 1970s whose sales people spread the message that the direct distribution of detergent would erode the excessive profits of soap powder manufacturers.  The detergent might wash, but the theory didn’t.   It was the group of companies which made most of the money whilst the hapless victims filled their garages with unwanted detergent; puts a different spin on money laundering doesn’t it?  Charles Ponzi, on the other hand, was an Italian-American banker who, in the 1920s, claimed, and convinced others, that international arbitrage in postal reply coupons was the road to riches.  It was for him.

Going offshore does seem to add extra panache to the pitch but it is where, unfortunately, wise counsel is most needed.  But still, a mix of common sense and analysis is the best defence against the fraudsters because following the herd, like the great annual wildebeest migration in Africa, means possibly falling prey to lions and crocodiles along the way. 

Some 2 million zebra, wildebeest and other antelope in East Africa migrate annually from the Serengeti Plains in Tanzania further north to Kenya in search of food and water; the distance covered is around 1800 miles in a clockwise circle.  The animals have to cross rivers where crocodiles lie in wait while the huge, concentrated number of animals is welcomed by predators such as the lion, hyena and wild dog.  By the time the circuit is completed, around 250,000 wildebeest will have lost their lives.  

Unfortunately, in the age of fast-food meals many people want everything handed to them on a plate, and quickly.  Such indolence can work against you in your dealings offshore, where being attentive is very important.  Explanations that absolute secrecy must be observed and denying access to information for independent verification, should set off alarm bells. Remember also that a veneer of respectability is the finest weapon in the trickster’s arsenal (the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International had a blameless Jimmy Carter’s name on its letterhead) and naive lawyers, for instance, are targeted because they provide a layer of professional legitimacy and probity to a transaction.

Drowning Men and Caged Tigers

But it is the internet that has become the deceiver’s best friend and which poses the greatest threat today. Meetings, the telephone and letters – once essential tools for the charlatan – can now be circumvented.  Virtual deception has eclipsed the actual kind once employed by Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer (he was eventually knighted by Queen Victoria and also bumped into Doctor David Livingstone) who became an agent for King Leopold II of Belgium, the monarch who controlled the Congo until his reign ended in 1908. 

In order to convince local chiefs to sign over their land to Leopold, Stanley told them that whites had the magical power to not only resist bullets but to control the power of the sun.  Stanley would have someone shoot at him with a blank cartridge and miraculously retrieve a planted bullet from his shoe. Then, using a magnifying glass to light his cigar, he would tell the natives that he could also have the sun burn down a nearby village if he desired it. 

What’s more, the internet is at the forefront of replacing human contact with technology, prompting Albert Einstein to fear the day “that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots”. 

But every now and then there is, for me at least, that delicious moment when human beings, and not machinery, prevail, for better or for worse, like the case in Germany when a worker briefly fell asleep (perhaps from staring at a monitor’s screen) on his keyboard while processing a US$85 debit from an account.  He repeatedly pressed the number 2 and transferred some $285 million.  Such an error when dealing with real money – as opposed to the kind on offer from the United States of America’s treasury secretary, Ben Bernanke, – could be serious; but fortunately, the bank noticed the error before their customer did. 

“We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom”.  That was Leo Tolstoy’s opinion, but in the case of business I would offer my own Lincolnesque view: you can’t know everything about everything and you can’t even know something about everything. But in business you can strive to know everything about something. Knowledge, combined with efficiency, is a rudimentary element for success in business but with the advances in technology the array of information on hand is daunting – not to mention the speed with which access to it is available. That’s all very well, but speed – like the tragic railway disaster in Spain in July at Santiago de Compostela shows – is not always a wise option. There’s still a need to hasten slowly in the service industry.  And not just in the service industry, bearing in mind Warren Buffett’s assertion: “lethargy bordering on sloth remains the cornerstone of our [his company’s] investment style”.  It can also be a good defence. Fabius Maximus, a Roman general, was known by the sobriquet “The Delayer”, and by avoiding pitched battles he was able to wear down Hannibal’s invading army.

Of course, procrastination can be fatal, as the drowning man could attest to before he went under for the third time. In the past some offshore jurisdictions held the belief that the growing menace posed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, elements of which evoke memories of Spain’s inquisition, could somehow be avoided by a last moment miracle.  But that heady level of optimism tempts comparison with Winston Churchill’s second world war view of a beleaguered ally: “An unfortunate man in a cage with a tiger, hoping not to provoke him while steadily dinner time approaches”. 

In the British Virgin Islands the mouse replaced the tiger as a metaphor when they pondered at one point whether life might imitate art if the offshore centres did the opposite of procrastination and were courageous enough to confront the industrialised nations, drawing inspiration from the film “The Mouse that Roared”.  In the story a diminutive duchy declares war on the US and ends up in a position to claim victory.  Time has shown how putting your money on the tiger was wise in the case of those overseas territories belonging to the United Kingdom.  Now the OECD net has spread well beyond traditional offshore centres with this year’s G8 meeting (held annually by the group of leaders comprising 8 of the largest developed countries) calling for all countries to stop supporting tax exemption schemes used by companies to avoid taxes. 

The Forest of Life

Tax exemption in the case of trade is nothing new and we need to look no further than the Magna Carta (the “Great Charter”) which will celebrate its 800th anniversary in 2015.  Not dissimilar to the G8’s aim to curb the benefits of big business, it is a fascinating insight into the financial affairs of England’s ancient nobility. 

A discredited King John of England had been forced by his barons into accepting the terse but comprehensive 61 clauses of Magna Carta, the historical ramifications of which could not be imagined at the time.  Clause 41 gave generous dispensations to international merchants, permitting them, in essence, to enter and leave England for the purposes of their trade without being subject to any “evil tolls” except in time of war.  Deliberate, as well as unintended, benefits arose from this toll exemption, not unlike the position today in jurisdictions which, for example, only tax resident companies and afford non-resident companies privileges similar in spirit to those given by England to those foreign medieval merchants. 

Over many years US companies in particular have established corporations offshore (many of them, ironically, in British possessions) that function as tax-avoidance devices and subsidise US exports to the tune of billions a year.  It remains to be seen whether the lofty aims of the G8, voiced in June, can be achieved because governments have proved to be as artful and adroit at negotiating as offshore governments and practitioners in the past have been at writing laws and using techniques in order to keep the foreign tax man at bay. That’s something that hasn’t changed since Magna Carta, and let’s not forget that its motives were hardly influenced by the interests of the common man, even although it covered England’s taxation, feudal rights and justice. Its real significance was that for the first time the king’s powers were limited by a written document.

It was also vital for establishing individual rights and freedoms in Britain and, subsequently, the US.  In fact, its concepts and some of its words were incorporated into the American Declaration of Independence; the UK’s Lincoln Cathedral copy of Magna Carta was kept for the duration of the second world war in the US and, arguably, no country holds the Magna Carta in more awe than the US.  One commentator has called it the grandparent of the American constitution. 

But just like the fairy tale world of America’s Camelot, whose king was also called John, its modern branding (a common trend these days in all commercial and individual walks of life and part of herd-think) strays far from the facts.  The Magna Carta was valid for just 10 weeks and was seen by the king as an expediency whilst he appealed to Rome for its validity to be voided and which Rome duly did.  Far from being a declaration of individual liberty, the free men (this straight away ruled out half of England’s population at that time) which it was supposed to protect were actually just an elite group.  But even so, if democracy in the West has its roots in the Middle Ages, Magna Carta is a good point of reference.

Italians say that a wolf sheds its coat but not its vices and Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the late Italian writer, who was the Prince of Lampedusa, moves from the wolf to the leopard (which never changes its spots).  His classic book, “The Leopard”, is a psychological study of the transfer of power in Sicily from the Bourbon aristocracy to the new Kingdom of Italy as well as an exposé of the greedy and unscrupulous liberal bourgeoisie of the 1860s. 

It’s been 20 years now since Mr. Spielberg directed “Schindler’s List” and if ever he makes that film about great cons of the past I can, at least, suggest a possible title for it:  “Swindler’s List”.  I am sure he would find this variety of shark equally intriguing and which is magnificently described in a word picture painted by Lampedusa in his book of one Sicilian character who could be the template for Mr. Ponzi’s acolytes who prey on their victims as well as at the alter of subterfuge:  “free as he was from the shackles imposed on many other men by honesty, decency and plain good manners, and he moved through the forest of life with the confidence of an elephant which advances in a straight line, rooting up trees and trampling down lairs, without even noticing scratches of thorns and moans from the crushed”. 

Sadly, it does look like independent thinking (just what the con man hates most) versus groupthink is in retreat; be that as it may, I for one will continue to write down my independent thoughts for those independent thinkers out there who care to read them.  Meanwhile the wolf, leopard and elephant await the innocent, as do the lion and the crocodile the gullible, massed and moving together, like wildebeest, in a perpetual clockwise, confused circle inside which so many will lose, if not their lives, then money, along the way.

Offshore Pilot Quarterly has been published since 1997 by Trust Services, S. A. and is written by Derek Sambrook

Private Equity - a Prerequisite for the Economic Development of Mauritius

Private Equity will be called upon to play an ever increasing role in the economic development of the country as well as that of the region, especially in countries where banking services and stock exchanges need strengthening.

This statement was made this morning by the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Xavier-Luc Duval, at the opening of the third edition of the Private Equity Mauritius (PEM) 2013 Conference on the theme: Connecting Global Investors with African Opportunities, at the Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa in Flic en Flac.

Speaking on the strategic position of Mauritius at the doorstep of Africa, VPM Duval said that Mauritius is playing a crucial role as an international investment platform contributing enormously in the transformation of the African continent. According to him, the growth of the middle class, a young population, urbanisation and with 60% of the world’s uncultivated land and enormous infrastructure needs in Africa generate huge opportunities for private equity. He also underlined the increasing role of Mauritius in promoting the Africa Strategy through the Board of Investment (BOI) Africa Centre of Excellence which according to him is turning the strategy from vision into action.

He also reaffirmed Government’s commitment into deepening further its reform agenda into new areas in order to further improve the competitiveness of the economy. Despite global uncertainties and a low growth rate across the world, VPM Duval pointed out that the country has demonstrated remarkable resilience with fairly good macro-economic fundamentals in 2012, namely: a budget deficit of 1.8%; Public Sector debt at 53.1%; Foreign Direct Investment above USD 400 million; Manageable Inflation rate at 3.9% and Unemployment at 8.1%.

Mr Duval also enumerated various international fora where Mauritius has received recognition for its continuous efforts aimed at improving its business climate, the most recent one being the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 of the World Economic Forum where Mauritius is ranked first in Sub-Saharan African region.

The two-day Private Equity Mauritius conference organised by the BOI in collaboration with the private sector financial services stakeholders is being held on 12 and 13 September. Over 300 participants both local and foreign are attending in a bid to explore and discuss key projects in need of private equity investment opportunities in Africa.

Panel discussions are focusing on key sectors attracting investments from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) as well as Private Equity funds with emphasis on how and why Mauritius is fast becoming the preferred investment, financial and business gateway for Africa.

Mauritius: Speech of FSC Chief Executive at the FSC/BOI Private Equity Masterclass

FSC/ BOI Masterclass: Excellence in Private Equity,
FSC House, 11th September 2013

Welcoming Speech by Ms. Clairette Ah-Hen, Chief Executive, FSC

Mr. Manoj Appado, Board Member of the FSC
Mr. Ken Poonoosamy, Managing Director of the Board of Investment
Mr. Sunil Benimadhu, Chief Executive of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius
Mr. Arvind Mathur, Chairman of the Private Equity Pro Partners, India
Industry Representatives and Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen

I welcome you all this morning to the FSC House for the Private Equity Master Class, jointly hosted by the Financial Services Commission (‘FSC’) and the Board of Investment (‘BOI’). Allow me to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Arvind Mathur, our Course Director, who will be sharing his expertise on private equity (‘PE’) and venture capital funds with us.

I won't take too much time to talk either about the development, opportunities and benefits of PE, how investment activities are carried out by PE entities, the differences with Public companies or the regulatory challenges being faced by them. Over the next two days (12 and 13 September), we will have plenty the opportunity to listen to and discuss these topics with a number of experts at the BOI’s 3rd edition of the Private Equity Mauritius Conference. In addition, as soon as we finish with the speeches, Mr Arvind Mathur, our expert for this Master Class will enlighten us on many other aspects of Private Equity and how to excel in that field.

But allow me, for a short while, to mention what PE can provide to Mauritius as our jurisdiction positions itself to provide the platform for the channeling of private equity investments and venture capital to Africa.

The PE Funds structured in Mauritius mostly target fast-developing countries like India and now Africa, typically focusing on infrastructural developments, agricultural products, information technology and telecommunications.

The Private Equity Fund Managers investing in Africa are using Mauritius to benefit from the DTAAs as well as for investment protection. Leveraging from the benefits offered by our Global Business sector, the Private Equity funds can be structured as a Mauritius resident vehicle, administered and controlled in Mauritius.

There are several equally important reasons why investors should select Mauritius as a jurisdiction of choice – such as our stable democracy, a sophisticated legal system, the regulatory framework based on international standards as well as the business-friendly economic climate. In the last few years, the jurisdiction has enacted several new legislations, namely the Limited Partnership Act and the Foundation Act – which cater for additional vehicles - to accommodate for more market players.

However, regulatory pressure triggered after the 2008 financial crisis, today calls for more transparency, ongoing compliance to tax due diligence, more competition and structuring and exit planning, meaning that private equity funds need to cast their net further to find untapped sources of value – Mauritius can contribute to provide finding these opportunities.
  • The FSC is signatory to IOSCO MMOU which enables cross-border cooperation which is critical to combating violations of securities laws and provides a common understanding amongst securities regulators as how to cooperate and exchange information.
  • To ensure a proper regulatory framework, the FSC is an active participant in the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (‘IOSCO’) initiatives such as being a member of Policy Committee – C1 – Issuer Accounting, Audit and Disclosure; the next C1 meeting will be hosted by FSC and held in Mauritius in October.
  • In October, the IOSCO Africa Middle East Regional Committee on Corporate Bond Markets Outreach Programme will be hosted by the FSC.
  • The FSC worked with European Securities and Markets Authorities (‘ESMA’) on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (‘AIFMD’) to ensure that Mauritius is in the first tranche of jurisdictions to receive ESMA's approval. The FSC’s signature of 23 MoUs with national EU regulators relating to the supervision of the AIFMD entities entails that Mauritius will have satisfied all the conditions for Mauritius-regulated funds to continue to market in these 23 EU countries under private placement.

On another note, on a macro-economic perspective, private equity cannot be ignored when tracking and analysing financial flows to developing countries. It is correct to say that Foreign Direct Investment is less likely to head for the exits at the first whiff of crisis but similarly, private equity is endowed with the same long-term, growth-generating features, and thus merits to be mentioned as an important contribution to private sector development as well as the economic development of a country.

Most private equity investors target worthy companies, sometimes with limited or no access to capital, and the financial returns materialise only when, and if, they enhance company performance. It is therefore time to recognise private equity as a legitimate source of capital for the economic development countries in Africa.

It is equally important to heighten awareness and understanding of the financing technique which can become increasingly significant for the development of Africa.

I am confident that the expertise of Mr. Mathur on the operations of private equity and venture capital funds in Asia will help participants today better understand PE trends and deal structures. The outcome of today’s Course will definitely contribute to train our professionals who play an important role in the shaping of the private equity industry in Mauritius.

Thank you for your attention.

11 September 2013

Captive Insurance

A captive insurer is an insurance or reinsurance entity established and owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more commercial or financial entities, to provide insurance or reinsurance cover for risks of the entity or entities to which it belongs, or for entities connected to those entities and only a small part if any of its risk exposure is related to providing insurance or reinsurance to other parties. Some types of captive:
  1. Pure: Insurer that writes only the risks of its owners and/or affiliates.
  2. Captive writing connected business: Insurer that writes the risks of unaffiliated companies doing business with the insurer's owners and/or affiliates, in addition to the risks of its owners and/or affiliates.
  3. Captive writing third party business: Insurer that writes unrelated, open market risks, in addition to the risks of its owners and/or affiliates.
  4. Captive of insurer: Subsidiary of a commercial insurer and/or reinsurer that writes only risks assumed from its owners and/or affiliates.
  5. Association captive: Insurer that is owned by a trade association or members of a common industry or trade association for the purpose of sharing risk among its members.
  6. Health care captive: Any type of captive writing coverage for hospitals, health maintenance organizations or managed care companies.
  7. Multi-owner captive: Insurer that is owned by two or more unrelated parties for the purpose of writing the risks of its owners and/or affiliates.
  8. Long-term (or life): Any type of captive writing long term (life) business.
  9. Composite: Any type of captive writing a combination of long term (life) business and general (non-life) business.
  10. Rental captive: Insurer that contractually provides captive facilities for a fee to parties unrelated to the insurer's owners.
  11. Agency captive: Insurer that is owned by one or more independent insurance agents to write high-quality risks that the agents control so the agents can participate in the profits generated by the business.
  12. Finite: Any type of captive that writes related and/or unrelated risks involving: (i) clearly defined aggregate limits; and (ii) premiums that reflect the underwriter's anticipated investment income.
  13. Captive not otherwise classified: Insurer that writes risks on a direct or reinsured basis that was formed to meet the insurance needs of its owner(s) whether it is formed under captive legislation or not.
  14. Protected/Segregated cell captive: Insurer that provides captive facilities for a fee to parties unrelated to the insurer's owners. The captive is established by legislation that legally protects, or segregates, each cell's assets so that liabilities of other cells cannot attach to them.
  15. Sponsored captive: Insurer that is owned by one or more insurer, reinsurer and/or captive. Each participant is unrelated to the owner(s) and insures its own risks. Each participant has its assets protected in a separate cell within the facility so that one participant never pays for the losses or expenses of any other participant.
  16. Branch captive: U.S. domiciled subsidiary of an offshore captive that writes U.S. employee benefits subject to ERISA legislation for the owner of the offshore captive.
  17. Risk retention group: Multi-owner captive formed under the U.S. Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981 or under the U.S. Federal Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986 that writes only liability risks.
  18. Governmental pool: Separate, legal, non-governmental, risk-bearing entity that is formed by one or more governmental agencies and/or subdivisions for the purpose of self-insuring its risks.
  19. Group self-insurance pool: Separate, legal, risk-bearing entity that is formed by a trade association, common industry or other related group for the purpose of self-insuring the risks of its members.
  20. Special purpose vehicle: Any type of captive that transfers insurance and non-insurance risks into the capital markets.
  21. Trust: A fiduciary relationship created by agreement in which money from individuals and/or companies is held by a trustee to satisfy the legal obligations of the individuals and/or companies to injured third party claimants.

09 September 2013

ISDA Publishes the 2013 ISDA Arbitration Guide

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today published the 2013 ISDA Arbitration Guide.

The 2013 ISDA Arbitration Guide provides guidance on the use of an arbitration clause with the 1992 and 2002 versions of the ISDA Master Agreement. It includes a range of model arbitration clauses covering a number of institutions and seats of arbitration around the globe. The Guide is supplemental to ISDA User’s Guide and amends Section 13 of the ISDA Master Agreement. It provides the first comprehensive set of ISDA model arbitration provisions and can be used worldwide.

ISDA issued the Guide following an extensive consultation process with a diverse group of market participants. It has been prepared in response to a growing trend in derivatives trading over recent years to make use of arbitration as an alternative way of dispute resolution compared to the traditional choice of court litigation. This development is also owing to the growing diversity of counterparties and jurisdictions that are involved in derivatives trading globally. For example, in several jurisdictions the enforceability of arbitral awards might be more easily achievable than the enforcement of a foreign court judgment. This is particularly the case in emerging market jurisdictions. In response to this trend, ISDA sought to assist the broader market by providing model arbitration clauses tailored to the ISDA Master Agreement.

Mauritius to Host Third Edition of the Private Equity Conference

Mauritius will host the third edition of the Private Equity Mauritius (PEM) 2013 conference which will be held on 12 and 13 September at the Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa in Flic en Flac. The two-day conference will focus on the theme: Connecting Global Investors with African Opportunities.

An initiative of the Board of Investment (BOI) in collaboration with the private sector financial services stakeholders, the conference will focus on the growing and unprecedented financing opportunities that the African continent offers to Private Equity investors as well as exit routes.

The conference will equally provide a platform for key African countries to present existing and forthcoming projects in need of private equity investments across various sectors. In addition to being updated with the latest trends and developments in Private Equity investment in Africa and the region, the participants will explore and discuss key projects in need of investment. Furthermore, they will be familiarised with the benefits that Mauritius offers as a regional financial and investment platform.

More than 300 foreign and local participants will be attending the conference namely, C-level executives and decision-makers of large corporate firms, private equity managers, fund managers, fund administrators, wealth managers, investment advisers, partners of International Law firms, as well as other financial intermediaries and professionals. Other participants include private equity fund managers, economists, regulators and investment advisors with in-depth knowledge of the pan-Asian and African markets.

The PEM conference was launched in 2009 with the aim to create a platform for directors of global private equity funds and leading corporate leaders, as well as practitioners from the industry to explore further investment opportunities in and through Mauritius. Since then, the event is serving as an ideal platform to entice private equity and other funds to increase their use of Mauritius for financial services as well as showcase investment opportunities in thriving sectors.

Global Finance Mauritius: FATCA Update

The purpose of this communique is to keep you updated of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) developments at the national level.

You were kept informed through our various earlier news releases that a working group chaired by Mr Wasoudeo Balloo, Tax partner of KPMG, had, in September 2012, produced a report outlining an impact assessment of FATCA and had recommended to the policy makers that a country to country (inter-governmental) approach be adopted instead of each Financial Institution having to enter into a separate agreement with the IRS.

GFM represented by Mr Balloo and the CEO thereafter was invited to join the Technical Committee set up by Ministry of Finance to review the different Models Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) issued by IRS and to recommend the most appropriate IGA for Mauritius. The Committee was chaired by Mr Mosafeer, Technical Adviser to the Director-General of Mauritius Revenue Authority and comprised of industry and government representatives. This Technical Committee has been meeting on a monthly basis since March 2013.

The main recommendations of GFM to the Technical Committee have been as follows:-
  1. to enter into a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) and to sign a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US to facilitate the compliance of financial institutions (FFIs) in Mauritius with FATCA reporting rules
  2. that our IGA with the US should contain a 'most favoured nation' clause which provides that any more favourable terms negotiated under another country’s IGA will automatically be applicable to Mauritius
  3. that a CIS should be exempt from the reporting obligations where all the investors in the CIS are FATCA compliant
The Model 1 IGA requires Mauritius Financial Institutions to report information directly to Mauritius Revenue Authority, which then automatically exchanges the information with the US pursuant to an income tax treaty or exchange of information agreement.

You will find attached the final versions of the draft TIEA, IGA and Annexes as agreed by the MRA with the US. We are pleased to report that all recommendations of GFM have been taken into consideration in the final versions of the IGA.

We would also like to bring to your attention that MRA has received confirmation about the following:
  1. Restricted/ unrestricted investment advisor and CIS Manager are included under paragraph IV(D) of Annex II;
  2. Collective investment vehicles where all interests (irrespective of the amount) are held by or through one or more financial institutions that are not non-participating financial institutions are covered under paragraph IV (E) of Annex II;
  3. The Stock Exchange of Mauritius is treated as an “established securities market” referred to in the definition of “Financial Account” in Article 1(1)(s) of the IGA.
While both Governments are completing the necessary procedures to sign the agreements, the Technical Committee shall now work on the legal framework needed for the implementation of the IGA in Mauritius.