Registered Office for an Offshore Company: What It Is and Who Provides It

A registered office address for an offshore company in Mauritius is the company's official postal and legal address on the island. It is where formal documents can be delivered, and it is not where the owner works, trades or lives. For an Authorised Company, the address normally comes with the service of its Mauritian registered agent.

This page explains what the address is, who provides it, how it fits with the registered agent's wider duties and, just as importantly, what it does not do for you.

What a registered office is

Under the Companies Act, every company must have a registered office in Mauritius at all times. That office is the address for the service of legal proceedings. The company's name and the words "Registered Office" must be displayed on the outside of the premises.

Nothing in this rule depends on where the owners live or where the business is run. A company owned and directed from abroad still needs a Mauritian address of record. That is the reason the registered office and the registered agent are so closely linked for an Authorised Company: the company has no local operation of its own to host the address.

What the address is used for

• Receiving official notices and court documents addressed to the company.
• Appearing on the public record as the company's address of record.
• Giving the authorities a fixed point of contact in Mauritius.
• Showing a bank or counterparty that the company is formally domiciled on the island.

Who provides the registered office address

An Authorised Company must have a registered agent in Mauritius at all times, and that agent must be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). The requirement comes from section 71A(7)(a) of the Financial Services Act 2007. The same type of provider also files the application for the authorisation in the first place.

In practice, the registered office address is supplied by that provider, usually as part of its package. Rather than renting premises, the company uses the provider's address of record. Whether the address is bundled with the annual service fee or priced separately is a commercial matter, so ask before you sign. The questions to ask an offshore provider are a useful starting list.

The provider is not a neutral mailbox. It is a regulated business with legal duties, covered below, and the FSC's oversight of the structure runs through it.

What the registered agent does beyond the address

The address is only one part of the role. Section 71A(8) of the Financial Services Act lists what the registered agent handles for an Authorised Company, including:

• filing the returns and documents required under the Financial Services Act, the Income Tax Act or the Companies Act;
• passing on communications with the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) and the Registrar of Companies;
• carrying out anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures;
• keeping the records, such as minutes, resolutions and transaction documents.

The provider also sits within the AML framework itself. The Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act (FIAMLA) lists the company service provider among the professions it covers. Its activities include acting as a formation agent for a legal person, such as a company, helping a third party to incorporate or register it. This is why the provider asks for identity documents and information about the beneficial owner before it accepts a client.

What a registered office is not

The address solves one problem and leaves several others untouched. This is where most misunderstandings start.

It does not move the management to Mauritius

An Authorised Company is built on the opposite premise from a Global Business Company. The law describes it as a company whose central management and control sit outside Mauritius. A Mauritian registered office does not change that. Decisions are taken abroad, and the address simply records where the company can be formally reached. The practical side is covered in managing an Authorised Company from abroad.

It is not a business address for trading

The registered office is not a shop, an office for staff or a place to receive customers. It does not authorise any local trading either. If you plan activity inside Mauritius, read whether an Authorised Company can do business in Mauritius first, because that raises different questions.

It does not decide where you are taxed

The address does not determine the tax position of the company or of its owner. That depends on where the company is managed and controlled, on the rules where the owner lives and on the facts of the case. Treat any claim that "a Mauritian address solves your tax question" with caution. For the home-country side, see how the owner is taxed at home.

It is not a personal address

Do not give the registered office as your own residential address, and do not expect the provider to forward everything. Official mail is handled according to the provider's procedure, and personal post is outside its role.

Does the registered office make the owner public?

Not in the way people often fear, but the picture is mixed. At the Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD), a person can consult an entity's file for a fee of Rs 100. For Authorised Companies and for private companies holding a Global Business Licence, only the name, the registered office and the identity of the FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or registered agent are available in that consultation.

Separately, a Mauritian company must keep a register of its beneficial owner and of any nominee. The Registrar of Companies maintains a Beneficial Ownership Register that is available to competent authorities and prescribed public authorities. The Companies Act does not describe that register as public. Privacy has limits, though, and the authorities can see the ownership. Our page on whether the owner of an offshore company is private goes into detail.

Registered office and the annual routine

The registered office has to stay in place for as long as the company exists. If the provider relationship ends, the company needs a new registered agent and therefore a new address of record. A request to move to a different provider is accompanied by the fee set by the FSC Rules. The process is explained in changing your offshore company provider.

The annual cycle runs through the same provider. For the 2026-27 renewal cycle, the FSC moved the deadline for paying annual fees to 30 September 2026, with payment made on the FSC One platform, including from the account of an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence). Under the fee schedule in force since 1 July 2026, an Authorised Company pays a processing fee of 600 USD and then an annual fee of 1 400 USD, excluding the Registrar's annual registration fee of 65 USD. Late payment raises the annual amount in steps. See the yearly obligations of an Authorised Company for the full cycle.

The provider itself also pays fees to the FSC, which is one reason pricing differs from one provider to another. Always compare what is included, not only the headline figure.

Registered office and the bank

Banks look at the registered office, but they do not stop there. A bank wants to understand who owns the company, who controls it, where the money comes from and what the business does. A bare registered office address with no business story rarely helps. If you are preparing an account application, read why banks refuse offshore company accounts before choosing a provider or a structure.

How to choose a provider for the address

Because the registered office comes from the provider, the quality of the provider matters more than the address itself. Before you commit:

• Confirm that the provider holds an FSC Management Licence and check the licence on the FSC's own records (see how to verify an FSC licence).
• Ask whether the registered office address is included in the annual fee or charged separately.
• Ask how official mail and legal notices are received, logged and passed on to you.
• Ask who at the provider acts as your contact and how quickly notices reach you.
• Ask what happens to the address if you later change provider or close the company.
• Ask which records the provider keeps and which you must keep yourself.
• Ask what the provider needs from you for its AML/CFT checks.
• Ask how you can leave, and whether any handover charge applies.

When to ask for individual advice

How a registered office fits your case depends on your residence, your activity and the rules of your home country. This page gives general information and is not advice. If you want to discuss a specific situation with a licensed provider, you can use the form on the contact page.