Section 14A: Licensing of moneylenders

14A. Licensing of moneylenders (1) (a) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall engage in the business of moneylending in Mauritius without a licence granted by the Commission. (b) Section 14 shall apply to the grant of a licence to a moneylender as it applies to a licence granted under that section, with such modifications, adaptations and exceptions as may be necessary. 218 Acts 2020 (c) No person, other than a company, shall be granted a licence under this section. (2) Every moneylender shall comply with such prudential requirements as by the Commission may specify. (3) The Commission may, by guidelines, instructions or directives, require every moneylender to comply with such provisions of this Act as it considers appropriate, so as to ensure effective supervision of moneylenders. (4) (a) The Commission may cause an inspection of the operations and affairs of a moneylender to be made by its officers or such other duly qualified person as it may appoint, so as to assess whether the moneylender is complying with the financial services laws and any guidelines, instructions or directives issued by the Commission. (b) Where the Commission appoints a duly qualified person to conduct an inspection under paragraph (a), the costs incurred in that connection may be recovered, in whole or in part, by the Commission as if it were a civil debt. (5) This section shall not apply to a loan made by or provided by any person specified in the Fifth Schedule. (6) Any person who contravenes this section shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one million rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. (e) in section 28, by repealing subsection (6) and replacing it by the following subsection – (6) A licensee who intends to surrender his licence to the Commission – (a) shall give notice of the proposed surrender and of its date to the Commission not less than 30 days before the date of the proposed surrender; Acts 2020 219 (b) shall, before giving notice under paragraph (a), make arrangements for the transfer of its business to another licensee; (c) shall, after the date of surrender, certify to the Commission that all his client accounts have been transferred; (d) shall provide to the Commission an undertaking, in writing, by the transferee that the business has been transferred to it; (e) shall specify the measures taken by the licensee for the discharge of his liabilities; (f) shall specify the date on which the termination is to be effective; (g) shall comply with such other matters as may be specified in the guidelines. (f) by inserting, after section 30, the following new sections –