Following the coming into force of the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Act 2021 on 7 February 2022, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) issued The Financial Services (Consolidated Licensing and Fees) (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2022 with effect from 7 May 2022.
The amendments set out the applicable processing fees and annual licence fees in respect of the different classes of licences held by virtual asset service providers and issuers of initial token offerings.
In order to ease the licensing process and ensure the continuous and efficient collaboration between the FSC and an applicant for such types of licences, the FSC has also issued specific licensing criteria for the following business activities:
- Virtual Asset Broker – Dealer (Class M) – VA-1.1
- Virtual Asset Wallet Services (Class O) – VA-1.2
- Virtual Asset Custodian (Class R) – VA-1.3
- Virtual Asset Advisory Services (Class I) – VA-1.4
- Virtual Asset Market Place (Class S) – VA-1.5
It should be noted that these licensing criteria aim to provide guidance to applicants when applying for a specific licence and should be read together with the relevant applicable legislation.
These licensing criteria and related processing fees are in line with the vision of enhancing the position of Mauritius as a leading international financial centre for the African continent.
The FSC has further issued drafts of rules in relation to Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services (Rules) for public consultation. These Rules cover minimum capital and other financial requirements, client disclosure requirements, custody of client assets, cybersecurity, publication of advertisements, risk management and statutory returns.
