Section 10A: Temporary suspension of suspicious transaction

10A. Temporary suspension of suspicious transaction (1) The FIU may, in writing, order a reporting person to temporarily suspend the performance of a suspicious transaction where – (a) the FIU has to urgently verify the data on the suspicious transaction, any person or funds or collection of additional data, information or documentation in Mauritius or abroad; or (b) the FIU has reasonable grounds to believe that the transaction, person or funds are related to money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing, or any related predicate offence. (2) Subject to subsection (3), a temporary suspension under subsection (1) shall be for a period not exceeding 72 hours from the time of the issuance of the order to the reporting person. (3) Where the deadline referred to in subsection (2) falls on a Sunday, public holiday or non-working day of the FIU, the temporary suspension shall be for a period not exceeding 120 hours from the time of the issuance of the order to the reporting person. 74 Acts 2026 (4) The FIU may, on good cause shown, apply to a Judge to extend the duration of the temporary suspension of the performance of the suspicious transaction under subsection (1) for an additional period of 72 hours or such other period as the Judge thinks fit in the interests of justice. (5) The FIU may request a reporting person to furnish additional information on a temporarily suspended transaction, and the reporting person shall furnish that information within 24 hours from the time of the request. (6) The FIU shall, without delay, inform the Financial Crimes Commission of the issue of an order under this section for the exercise of any function, duty or power it may deem appropriate under the Financial Crimes Commission Act 2023. (7) The FIU may, at any time prior to the expiry of an order issued under this section, terminate the order where it considers that there are no reasons for maintaining the temporary suspension of the performance of the suspicious transaction and shall, without delay, inform the reporting person and the Financial Crimes Commission of the termination of the order. (8) Any reporting person, its officers or its agents shall not disclose to any person that the FIU has issued an order, including the termination of an order, under this section. (e) in section 13 – (i) in subsection (1), by deleting the words “or terrorism financing” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing or proliferation financing”; (ii) in subsection (3)(a), by deleting the words “or a terrorism financing offence” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing offence or proliferation financing offence”; Acts 2026 75 (f) in Part IV – (i) in the heading, by deleting the words “OF TERRORISM” and replacing them by the words “OF TERRORISM AND PROLIFERATION”; (ii) in section 17 – (A) in subsection (1)(a), by deleting the words “and terrorism financing” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing and proliferation financing”; (B) in subsection (2), by deleting the words “and terrorism financing” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing and proliferation financing”; (C) by inserting, after subsection (2), the following new subsection – (2A) The process of reporting persons to identify, assess, monitor, manage and mitigate proliferation financing-risks may be done within the framework of their existing targeted financial sanctions or compliance programmes, or both. (D) in subsection (3), by deleting the ; (B) in subsection (2), by deleting the words “and terrorism financing” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing and proliferation financing”; (C) by inserting, after subsection (2), the following new subsection – (2A) The process of reporting persons to identify, assess, monitor, manage and mitigate proliferation financing-risks may be done within the framework of their existing targeted financial sanctions or compliance programmes, or both. (D) in subsection (3), by deleting the words “or terrorism financing” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing or proliferation financing”; (E) by adding the following new subsection – (5) A supervisory authority may determine that risk assessments are not required to be documented by its respective reporting persons, provided that the specific risks inherent to the sector are clearly identified and understood and that each reporting person understands its money laundering, terrorism financing or proliferation financing risks. 76 Acts 2026 (iii) in section 17A, in subsection (1), by repealing paragraph (a) and replacing it by the following paragraph – (a) establish policies, controls and procedures, consistent with this Act and any guidance from competent authorities, to mitigate and manage effectively the risks of money laundering, terrorism financing or proliferation financing identified in any risk assessment undertaken by the reporting person under section 17 or in the national risk assessment conducted under section 19D; (iv) in section 17E – (A) in subsection (1), by deleting the words “had a business relationship on 9 August 2018” and replacing them by the words “has a business relationship”; (B) by repealing subsection (3) and replacing it by the following subsection – (3) For the purpose of conducting CDD under subsection (1) – “beneficial owner” – (a) in the context of a legal person – (i) refers to the natural person – (A) who ultimately owns or controls a customer; (B) on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted; Acts 2026 77 (ii) includes a natural person who exercises ultimate effective control over the legal person; (b) in the context of a legal arrangement includes – (i) the settlor; (ii) the trustee; (iii) the protector, if any; (iv) each beneficiary, or where applicable, the class of beneficiaries and objects of a power; and (v) any other natural person exercising ultimate effective control, including where ownership or control is exercised through a chain of ownership or control, over the legal arrangement; (c) in the case of a legal arrangement similar to an express trust, refers to the natural person holding an equivalent position to those referred to in paragraph (b). 78 Acts 2026 (d) where the trustee and any other party to the legal arrangement is a legal person, refers to the beneficial owner of that legal person; (e) in the context of a beneficiary under a life or other investment linked insurance policy, refers to the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the beneficiary; or (f) where there is doubt as to whether the natural person identified under paragraph (a) or where no natural person is identified as the beneficial owner of a legal person, reporting persons shall identify and take reasonable measures to verify the identity of the relevant natural person who holds the position of senior managing official. (v) in section 18 – (A) in subsection (1)(a), by deleting the words “activities and terrorism financing” and replacing the owns or controls the beneficiary; or (f) where there is doubt as to whether the natural person identified under paragraph (a) or where no natural person is identified as the beneficial owner of a legal person, reporting persons shall identify and take reasonable measures to verify the identity of the relevant natural person who holds the position of senior managing official. (v) in section 18 – (A) in subsection (1)(a), by deleting the words “activities and terrorism financing” and replacing them by the words “, terrorism financing and proliferation financing”; (B) in subsection (2), by adding the following new paragraphs – (d) Where the Bank of Mauritius intends to impose an administrative penalty Acts 2026 79 under paragraph (b), it shall notify the bank or cash dealer, in writing, of – (i) its intention to impose the administrative penalty, and the grounds for imposing such penalty; (ii) the type and terms of the administrative penalty; and (iii) the right of the bank or cash dealer to make written representations to the Bank of Mauritius within 21 days of the notice. (e) Where, after considering the written representations under paragraph (d)(iii), the Bank of Mauritius is satisfied that the bank or cash dealer has contravened paragraph (a), or where no written representations are received, it shall impose the administrative penalty on the bank or cash dealer, as the case may be. (f) Any bank or cash dealer that is dissatisfied with a decision of the Bank of Mauritius relating to the imposition of an administrative penalty under paragraph (e) may apply for a judicial review of the decision in accordance with Sub-part VIA of Part II of the Courts Act. (vi) in section 19, in subsection (2)(b), by deleting the words “money laundering offence” and replacing them by the words “money laundering, terrorism financing or proliferation financing offence”; 80 Acts 2026 (g) in section 19A, in subsection (3), by deleting the words “of terrorism” and replacing them by the words “of terrorism or proliferation”; (h) in section 19AA, in subsection (2)(a), by inserting, after subparagraph (iii), the following new subparagraph – (iiiA) the Director of Public Prosecutions; (i) in section 19B, by adding the following new subsection, the existing provision being numbered as subsection (1) – (2) The National Committee shall, for the purpose of subsection (1)(b), maintain comprehensive statistics on matters relevant to the effectiveness and efficiency of the AML/CFT systems, which shall include statistics on – (a) suspicious transactions received and disseminated; (b) money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation investigations, prosecutions and convictions; (c) property frozen, seized and confiscated; (d) mutual legal assistance or other international requests for cooperation made and received; and (e) such other information as the National Committee may deem necessary. (j) in section 19D – (i) by repealing subsection (1) and replacing it by the following subsection – (1) Unless otherwise provided in any other enactment, the Ministry shall, under the direction of the National Committee, coordinate measures to identify, assess, update, mitigate and understand the money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks. Acts 2026 81 (ii) by inserting, after subsection (1), the following new subsection – (1A) The Ministry may, where it considers that the risk situation so requires, review the national risk assessment more frequently subsection – (1) Unless otherwise provided in any other enactment, the Ministry shall, under the direction of the National Committee, coordinate measures to identify, assess, update, mitigate and understand the money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks. Acts 2026 81 (ii) by inserting, after subsection (1), the following new subsection – (1A) The Ministry may, where it considers that the risk situation so requires, review the national risk assessment more frequently or conduct ad hoc sectoral risk assessments. (iii) by repealing subsections (2) and (3) and replacing them by the following new subsections – (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the Ministry shall coordinate and conduct an assessment of the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks. (3) The Ministry shall, as far as practicable, make available the findings of the national risk assessment, including updates and reviews, to – (a) every competent authority for the purpose of subsection (4); and (b) reporting persons, in order to assist them to identify, understand, manage and mitigate the risk of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. (iv) by inserting, after subsection (3), the following new subsection – (3A) The Ministry shall publish a summary of the findings of the assessment which shall not contain any classified information or any information permitting the identification of any natural person or name any legal person. 82 Acts 2026 (v) in subsection (4), by deleting the words “Every supervisory and investigatory” and replacing them by the words “Every competent”; (k) in section 19E – (i) in subsection (1), by deleting the words “a supervisory authority, an investigatory authority” and replacing them by the words “a competent authority”; (ii) in subsection (2)(a), by deleting the words “supervisory authority, investigatory authority or” and replacing them by the words “competent authority or”; (L) by inserting, after section 19E, the following new section –