Who Should Use an Authorised Company?

Asking who can set up an authorised company is really two questions. The first is legal: does your situation meet the conditions set by Mauritian law? The second is practical: even if you qualify, does the structure match what you actually do? A company can be eligible and still be a poor fit.

This guide takes both in turn. It describes the legal test, the profiles of owners and businesses for whom an Authorised Company is a sensible tool, and the situations in which another route is the better answer. It gives general information only; whether the structure is right for you depends on your facts and should be confirmed with an adviser.

Who can set up an authorised company: the legal test

Section 71A of the Financial Services Act 2007 sets the entry conditions. A company incorporated under the Companies Act must apply to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for authorisation as an Authorised Company when all of the following hold:

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

The third condition is the one people overlook. Foreign ownership alone does not make the structure appropriate: the company must genuinely be run from abroad. The practical meaning of that condition is explained in managing an Authorised Company from abroad.

Two procedural points follow from the same section:

• The application goes through an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), not directly from the owner.
• The company must have a registered agent in Mauritius at all times, and the registered agent must also be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence).

Since 1 October 2024 the FSC has been required to grant a complete application within 10 working days of the date it is considered complete. That is a statutory ceiling for the authorisation step, not a promise about the whole timeline. For the full list of documents and steps, see the requirements for an Authorised Company, and for the nationality question specifically, can a foreigner own an Authorised Company.

Profiles that tend to fit

The structure was designed for businesses whose activity, clients and decision-making are outside Mauritius. The profiles below are the recurring ones. None is automatic: each still depends on the owner's home-country tax rules and on how the business is really run.

Advisers and consultants serving clients abroad

A consultant whose clients are in other countries, who is not selling to Mauritian customers and who directs the work from a base outside Mauritius, matches the legal profile closely. The company contracts, invoices and holds the revenue. What the owner can take out, and how it is taxed at home, is a separate question. See running a consulting business through an offshore company.

Online sellers and software founders

Businesses that sell digital or physical goods online to customers worldwide often meet the "mainly outside Mauritius" condition without difficulty, because neither the customers nor the operations are in Mauritius. The friction tends to come later, from payment providers, banks and indirect taxes in the customer's country rather than from the licence itself.

International traders

A company that buys and sells goods between third countries, without the goods or the staff being in Mauritius, fits the model. The question to settle early is where the contracts are negotiated and decided, since that bears on both the management-and-control condition and on permanent establishment risk.

Holders of intellectual property

A company that owns software, trademarks or content and licenses it to users abroad is another common profile. The Income Tax Act contains specific provisions on royalties paid to non-residents out of foreign-source income, so the details of who pays whom matter. This is an area where professional advice is needed before anything is signed.

Freelancers with growing contracts

An international freelancer can use a company, but the case is weaker at small volumes. Fixed annual costs and compliance work weigh more heavily on a one-person business. The trade-offs are laid out in sole trader or offshore company for an international freelancer.

Who should look elsewhere

An Authorised Company is a narrow tool. Several situations point away from it.

You want to operate in Mauritius

If your customers, premises or staff are in Mauritius, the "mainly outside Mauritius" condition fails. A company that operates as an Authorised Company without authorisation commits an offence, punishable by a fine of up to MUR 1,000,000. Local operations belong in a different type of company; see can an Authorised Company do business in Mauritius.

Your business is a regulated financial activity

Unless the FSC Rules provide an exception, an Authorised Company cannot carry on the activities listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Financial Services Act. There are five categories:

1. banking;
2. professional management or administration of a collective investment fund or scheme;
3. financial services;
4. head office, nominee, director or secretarial services for companies; and
5. professional trusteeship.

If your plan resembles any of these, the structure is not available in its ordinary form.

You expect to rely on tax treaties

An Authorised Company is a global business entity for Income Tax Act purposes, as is a Global Business Corporation (GBC). The two are different licences with different conditions: a GBC must be managed and controlled from Mauritius, carry out its core income generating activities there and be administered by an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). An Authorised Company must be managed from outside Mauritius. Owners whose plan depends on substance in Mauritius are looking at the GBC route, which is outside the scope of this page. The consequences for treaty access are covered in the limits of an Authorised Company.

You live in Mauritius or cannot manage from abroad

If the real decisions would be taken in Mauritius, the central management condition is not met on the facts, whatever the paperwork says. Owners who relocate to Mauritius need to revisit the structure before they move.

You are looking for anonymity

Every Mauritian company must identify its beneficial owner and any nominee, and record them in a separate register. The Registrar of Companies keeps a Beneficial Ownership Register, which is accessible to competent authorities. The Companies Act does not describe that register as public, but it is not a structure in which the owner is unknown to the authorities. See is the owner of an offshore company private.

Fit at a glance

Costs to weigh against the benefit

Fixed costs are part of the fit test. Since 1 July 2026, the FSC fee schedule for an Authorised Company is USD 600 in processing fees and USD 1,400 a year, the annual amount excluding the registration fee payable to the Registrar of Companies, currently USD 65 unless the Registrar sets another figure. The FSC explained the 2026 review by pointing to the higher inherent risk profile of Authorised Companies. These are regulatory fees only; the registered agent's own charges are separate and vary by provider.

Whether those costs make sense depends on the revenue the company will handle. A structure that costs more to maintain than it saves or protects is not a good fit, however well it matches the legal profile.

A quick self-assessment

Questions to settle before you apply

• Where will you personally live and take decisions for the company?
• Who are the customers, and in which countries?
• Does the activity fall within a regulated or prohibited category?
• What do your home-country rules say about foreign companies you control?
• Will the company's revenue justify its fixed annual costs?

The checklist before creating an offshore company goes through these points in more detail. Your own tax residence deserves particular attention: rules on controlled foreign companies may tax the profits at home regardless of where the company is incorporated.