# Mauritius

> Mauritius (Financial Services Commission): A mature licensing regime that never mentions anonymity. Region: Middle East & Africa. Confidential with disclosure: Confidentiality is workable so long as the regulated firm can identify the parties and disclose on demand. Encrypted amounts are not the thing being restricted.

Part of the Soda Labs Privacy Hub regulation map, which reads the instruments
themselves rather than summarising the summaries: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation

## Key facts

- Entry type: Jurisdiction
- Region: Middle East & Africa
- Subject: A mature licensing regime that never mentions anonymity
- Authority: Financial Services Commission
- Stance on on-chain confidentiality: Confidential with disclosure. Confidentiality is workable so long as the regulated firm can identify the parties and disclose on demand. Encrypted amounts are not the thing being restricted.
- Tags: VAITOS 2021, no privacy coin rule, domiciliation hub, silence not permission
- Canonical page: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-mauritius

## What it actually says

Mauritius matters here out of proportion to its size, because a great many crypto entities are domiciled in it. Its regime is mature rather than minimal: a licensing act in force since 2022, five distinct licence classes with capital requirements, and seven detailed rules covering everything from custody to cybersecurity. What it does not contain, anywhere we could find across the act, the rules and independent reviews of both, is any restriction on anonymity-enhancing assets, mixers or self-hosted wallets. That silence is the finding. It is not a considered permission and should not be read as one, but it does make Mauritius the most accommodating jurisdiction in the region on confidentiality, purely by not having addressed it.

## The instruments that matter

- **VAITOS Act 2021, in force 7 February 2022**: five licence classes covering broker-dealer, wallet services, custodian, advisory and marketplace, each with its own capital floor
- **Seven FSC Rules from 1 July 2022**: covering capital, client disclosure, custody of client assets, cybersecurity, advertising, risk management and statutory returns
- **No located restriction on anonymity-enhancing assets**: across the Act, all seven rules and independent reviews of them, we found no mention of privacy coins, mixers or self-hosted wallets
- **Anti-money-laundering under FIAMLA**: customer due diligence, ongoing transaction monitoring, a seven-year record retention minimum and mandatory compliance and reporting officers

## Sources

- [Mauritius virtual assets regulation](https://charltonsquantum.com/mauritius-virtual-assets-regulation/)
- [Appleby on the FSC Rules under VAITOS](https://www.applebyglobal.com/publications/mau-fsc-rules-issued-under-the-virtual-asset-and-initial-token-offerings-services-act-2021-vaitos/)

## Related entries

- [Ghana](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-ghana): The regulator that put self-custody in writing
- [Israel](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-israel): Light on-chain, heavy on data protection
- [Italy](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-italy): Customer-level reporting to a public registrar
- [Nigeria](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-nigeria): Securities-first, with banking access restored
- [Rwanda](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-rwanda): Anonymity defined out of the regime rather than banned
- [Seychelles](https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/regulation/jur-seychelles): No anonymity rule, but the offshore route is closing