Mauritius plans to establish a sovereign fund to provide seed capital for the development of financial technology or Fintech activities in the island nation. It is also planning to give incentives to attract Fintech operations in the country.
Besides, it is looking at promoting the use of latest technology that will prevent hacking and other kinds of frauds, while regulating blockchain-related activities.
These issues were discussed by a high-level regulatory committee -- Fintech and Innovation-driven Financial Services -- at its first meeting held on Friday, Mauritius’ Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in a statement.
The panel was set up to assist in paving the way for appropriate regulatory framework for encouraging and supporting the development of Fintech activities in Mauritius. FSC is Mauritius’ integrated regulator for global business companies and non-banking financial services sector.
The 7-member committee includes Meghnad Desai and St John of Bletso of the House of Lords; FSC CEO Harvesh Seegolam; and Nishith Desai, founder of the Nishith Desai Associates Law Firm in India.
Discussions of the committee were centered around positioning Mauritius as a regional hub of sound repute in the field of Fintech norms by building an open and transparent regulatory regime which encourages innovation, FSC said.
Subsequent to the first meeting, the committee will assess the current regulatory set-up with respect to Fintech and innovation-driven Financial Services Regulations in Mauritius, and make recommendations on the need to introduce new set of regulations for Fintech and innovation. Further, it will also identify priority areas within the regulatory space of Fintech activities.