A guide to offshore structures available in Mauritius

Mauritius has developed as an offshore centre through its growing network of tax treaties and their application in structuring offshore investments. Many multinational companies have used Mauritius to route their investments into emerging regions.

So far Mauritius has ratified 34 tax treaties, including one with China.

Mauritius recently enhanced the legal framework for captive insurance business, and several reputable captive managers have already established a presence on the island. Mauritius is also becoming an attractive place to locate operational headquarters for multinational group operations. Legislation has been introduced to permit and regulate sophisticated products such as aircraft registration and financing. The island’s location, professional skills, political stability and membership of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are enhancing its attractiveness as an offshore jurisdiction for Chinese investments overseas.

Procedures for the granting of visas, work permits and residence permits have been streamlined, and an offshore business channel is now in operation at the airport so as to expedite the entry formalities of investors.

There follows a brief introduction to some of the corporate structures available to Chinese and other foreign investors in Mauritius.

Dev Erriah is a barrister at Erriah Chambers in Mauritius. For enquiries relating to Mauritius, he can be contacted on +230 208 2220 or by email at deverriah@intnet.mu