Mauritius to come up with new law to regulate virtual assets

The Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Bill will soon be introduced into the National Assembly of Mauritius.

Cabinet papers of 26 November 2021 reveal that the new regulation is said to have rendered necessary in order to meet international standards of the Financial Action Task Force by making provisions for managing, mitigating and preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation risks (AML/CFT) associated with those emerging business practices.

The Financial Services Commission will be made responsible for regulating and supervising virtual asset service providers and issuers of initial token offerings.

According to the proposed law, it will become a financial crime offence to carry out business activities as a virtual asset service provider without being licensed as such; and to carry out business activities as an issuer of initial token offerings without being registered as such.