Mauritius FSC consults on new FinTech Service Provider Licence category
The Mauritius Financial Services Commission (MFSC) is consulting on a proposed comprehensive regulatory framework for a new FinTech Service Provider Licence, which is designed to address the enhanced nexus between technology and financial services over recent years and to further establish Mauritius as a regional centre for the FinTech ecosystem.
The MFSC is proposing to set up the regulatory framework for the FinTech Service Provider (FSP) licence. Issued under section 14 of the Financial Services Act (FSA), the FSP licence aims at offer a conducive supervisory regime to providers of technology services to financial institutions that wish to establish a commercial presence and operate in or from within Mauritius.
The MFSC said it had been seeing an increased use of new or emerging technologies or the innovative use of existing technologies in financial services, such as technology-driven solutions for the insurance industry (InsurTech) or the increased use of regulatory technology (RegTech) solutions by financial institutions to assist them in meeting their statutory obligations.
With its licensees increasingly relying on providers of RegTech solutions, whether through in-house use of programmes or via an outsourcing arrangement, the MFSC said it had become essential to ensure that the providers were of good standing. The FSP licence and its corresponding regulatory framework are therefore intended for the licensing and supervision of technology service providers offering RegTech, other technology solutions or software as a service, to financial institutions.
An applicant for the FSP licence will have to be a corporate body, trust, société or partnership that is set up in Mauritius. Subject to meeting the conditions prescribed under the FSA, the holder of an FSP licence can further apply for a Global Business Licence under Part X of the FSA.
The objectives of the applicant for the FSP licence, as detailed in its business plan, will have to be limited to the development, provision and maintenance of technology solutions or software, in or from within Mauritius and operations arising directly therefrom, on a commercial basis, for use in the carrying out or delivery of financial services.
Section 18 of the FSA requires the applicant for a licence to have adequate resources, infrastructure and staff with the appropriate competence, experience and proficiency to carry out the activity for which the licence is sought. Once the licence has been issued, the holder is required to maintain appropriate resources, infrastructure and staffing to retain its licence.
