Can an Authorised Company Do Business in Mauritius?

If you are asking whether an authorised company can trade in Mauritius, the short answer is that the structure is built for business conducted outside the island. It is not a vehicle for serving the Mauritian market. The longer answer turns on a few precise words in the Financial Services Act 2007 and on how each transaction is actually carried out.

This guide explains the legal boundary, the points where local contact is unavoidable, and the situations that call for a different structure. It gives general information only; whether a specific arrangement stays inside the line depends on the facts and should be reviewed by an adviser.

What the law says about business in Mauritius

An Authorised Company is created under section 71A of the Financial Services Act 2007. That provision applies to a company incorporated under the Companies Act that meets three conditions at once:

• the majority of its shares or voting rights is held or controlled by a person who is not a Mauritian citizen;
• it conducts its business principally outside Mauritius;
• its central management and control sit outside Mauritius.

A company in that position must apply to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for authorisation. The conditions are cumulative, so the "outside Mauritius" test is a core feature of the status, not a detail. The meaning of the term "authorised company" is explained in its own page; here the focus is the geographic limit.

Two consequences follow:

1. The company's commercial activity is expected to take place abroad, with customers, markets and decision-making located elsewhere.
2. Operating as an Authorised Company without the proper authorisation is an offence. The Act provides for a fine of up to MUR 1 000 000, the same maximum that applies to a company carrying on global business activity without a Global Business Licence.

Where the boundary sits in practice

The statute does not draw a line at "one local invoice". It speaks of business conducted principally outside Mauritius, and the sections that follow describe what an Authorised Company may and may not do. In practice, advisers look at several questions together:

• Where are the customers and where is the revenue earned?
• Where are the directors when they take decisions?
• Does the company have staff, premises or a trading presence on the island?
• Is the company, in substance, serving the Mauritian market?

A company whose customers are in Europe, North America or Asia, and whose directors decide from abroad, sits comfortably within the design. A company that sells mainly to Mauritian households or businesses does not, whatever its paperwork says.

Local clients

Occasional dealings with a Mauritian customer do not automatically defeat the status, because the test is about the principal place of business. But a pattern of Mauritian clients changes the picture. If local sales become a significant share of activity, the company is no longer conducting its business principally abroad, and the safer route is to review the structure with a professional before that happens.

The question is also one of substance for tax. A company that is truly run from abroad has to be managed from abroad; see managing an authorised company from abroad and the related risk described in permanent establishment risk.

Local suppliers and service providers

Paying for services in Mauritius is a different matter from selling in Mauritius. The company needs a registered agent on the island at all times, and that agent must be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). Banks, accountants and lawyers may also be local. Using them does not turn the company into a Mauritian trading business, because the revenue-generating activity remains abroad.

What matters is that the company does not build a local operation around those suppliers: a local office from which sales are made, local staff running the business, or local managers taking the commercial decisions.

The comparison at a glance

Operations the Act treats as outside Mauritius

Section 71A(13) contains a useful clarification: an Authorised Company is deemed to conduct its business outside Mauritius even if it carries out the transactions listed in section 73(1)(c) to (f) of the Act. Those are the kinds of dealings that a company with a local presence would otherwise find hard to classify, such as holding a local bank account or engaging local professionals.

This protects the ordinary housekeeping of the company. It does not extend to selling to the local public or setting up a domestic operation. The provision is a safeguard for infrastructure, not an exemption for commercial activity.

Activities an Authorised Company cannot carry on

Separate from geography, section 71A(4) bars an Authorised Company, unless the FSC Rules provide an exception, from activities listed in the Fourth Schedule:

• banking;
• managing or administering a collective investment fund or scheme as a professional;
• financial services;
• corporate services such as head-office, nominee, directorship or secretarial services for companies;
• professional trusteeship.

These restrictions apply wherever the clients are. A fuller discussion of what remains permitted is in what business an authorised company can run, and a wider list of constraints in limits of an authorised company.

Practical consequences for common set-ups

Invoicing and contracts

Invoices addressed to foreign clients fit the model. When a Mauritian business asks to buy from you, treat that as a point to decide on, not something to let drift. See invoicing clients from an offshore company for practical points on billing.

Staff and premises

Hiring people on the island creates a local footprint that sits uneasily with central management abroad. The topic is addressed in hiring staff or contractors in Mauritius, and property ownership has its own page, owning property in Mauritius.

Someone living in Mauritius

If the person running the company moves to Mauritius, the "central management and control outside Mauritius" condition comes under direct strain. The location of the decision-makers matters as much as the location of the customers.

Deciding whether you need a different structure

If the real plan is to build a business that serves Mauritian customers, the Authorised Company is probably the wrong tool. A short decision aid:

For the comparison itself, offshore company or local company: how to decide sets out the trade-offs without developing the domestic route here. Where the activity is a global business that must be managed from the island, that is a separate licence category covered elsewhere.

How the FSC and your registered agent fit in

The FSC grants the authorisation, and the application goes through an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). That provider then acts as registered agent, handling filings, communications with the FSC, the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the Registrar of Companies, anti-money-laundering measures and record keeping. It sees how the company is run and can raise concerns if activity drifts towards the local market.

For background on supervision, read the FSC's role. Before choosing a provider, questions to ask an offshore FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) helps frame the conversation, and the FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) behind your authorised company describes what to expect.

Checklist before accepting a Mauritian client

• Confirm where the majority of your revenue comes from
• Check where your directors will be when they take decisions
• Ask your registered agent whether the arrangement fits the company's authorisation
• Keep records of the contract, the delivery location and the payment route
• Take professional advice if local sales are growing