The FSC Mauritius engages in high level discussions with Russian Authorities

The Chief Executive of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Harvesh Seegolam, is part of the high-level Mauritian delegation currently in Moscow, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration & International Trade, Lutchmee Lutchmeenaraidoo,.

During this mission, Harvesh Seegolam had a meeting with Ms Ksenia Yudaeva, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia (Bank of Russia), sole regulator for Banking and nonbanking activities in Russia. Discussions focused on a formal collaboration model to be established between the FSC and the Bank of Russia in matters pertaining to exchange of information and capacity building, amongst others.

A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed in this respect between the two Regulatory bodies in the first quarter of 2018. An important objective of the Mauritian mission is to develop and nurture frameworks of collaboration at institutional levels.

The Mauritian delegation also attended a meeting at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law, operating under the Government of the Russian Federation and represented by its Director, Dr Taliya Khabrieva, an ‘Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation’.

The FSC will embark in due course, with the support of the Institute, on a comparative study of key enabling legislative frameworks in the financial services sphere. The FSC will equally explore the possibility of developing a collaboration model between the Mauritius IFC and the Moscow IFC, through the offices of

Dr Khabrieva, who is also an active member of the High Level Russian Task Force established by the President of the Russian Federation to work on the Moscow International Financial Centre project.

It is noteworthy that the Taskforce for the Moscow IFC is working closely with The City UK in London, body for the UK based financial and related professional services, to achieve its objectives.

The Chief Executive of the FSC also had working meetings with strategic teams of the Moscow Exchange, the world’s third largest Exchange in Fixed Income and Derivatives, as well as an established Commodities platform.

Various potential avenues of cooperation were discussed, including the fields of Exchange Traded Funds and capacity building for the Mauritius financial services sector. In the context of this mission, Mr Seegolam was a key speaker at the Business Forum organised by the Board of Investment in Moscow on the topic of Financial Services.

 FSC Mauritius issues Draft Financial Services (Peer to Peer Lending) Rules for Consultation

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) Mauritius is issuing the draft Financial Services (Peer to Peer Lending) Rules 2017 (the ‘P2P Rules’) for consultation in line with the announcement made in the Budget Speech 2017/18.

The aim of the P2P Rules is to inter-alia establish a sound and conducive automated environment for the offer and execution of alternative Peer to Peer lending, other than bank lending, for the benefits of borrowers and stakeholders in the non-banking sector of Mauritius. Peer to Peer Lending platforms are an important segment of the Fintech space. In the elaboration of the Peer to Peer Lending Rules 2017, the Financial Services Commission has undertaken a benchmarking exercise with various other jurisdictions.

As per the Rules, P2P Operators will be expected by the FSC to adopt and maintain adequate internal control policies and procedures. P2P Operators shall also be required to establish an office and appropriate Information Technology infrastructure in Mauritius.

These requirements will ensure that they meet the substance or physical presence needed for adequate monitoring purposes by the Financial Services Commission and safeguard the interests of users, including both lenders and borrowers of the P2P Operators. These P2P Rules, together with an explanatory memorandum, can be consulted on the official website of the FSC Mauritius at the following link: Peer to Peer Lending Rules.