BANK OF MAURITIUS - Guideline for Virtual Asset-related Activities [November 2024]

Bank of Mauritius [BOM] has issued guidelines for banks on how to conduct virtual asset-related activities. The Guidelines are issued under the authority of sections 50 of the Bank of Mauritius Act 2004 and 100 of the Banking Act 2004.

The guidelines include what regulatory approval and notification a bank will need, including:

• Banks shall ensure compliance with the requirements of section 30 of the Act regarding:
  • Investments and
  • Other activities involving tokenised shares, stocks, and other assets.
• Banks shall seek the written approval of BOM before applying to the FSC for the following:
  • i. Applying for a
    • Class “R” licence (Virtual Asset Custodian) or
    • Class “I” licence (Virtual Asset Advisory Services); and
  • ii. Applying, through their subsidiary, for a:-
    • Class “M” licence (Virtual Asset Broker[1]Dealer),
    • Class “O” licence (Virtual Asset Wallet Services) or
    • Class “S” licence (Virtual Asset Marketplace)   

• The application for approval shall be accompanied by
• The risk assessment report of the bank as approved by the board covering.
• The classification of the virtual assets,
• The identified risks,
• The potential impact and
• The risk mitigating measures.
• BOM shall be notified whenever banks propose to take any exposure in virtual assets which do not qualify as Group 1a and 1b Virtual assets. The notification shall include.
• The risk assessment is as approved by the board, covering.
• The classification of the virtual assets,
• The identified risks,
• The potential impact and the risk-mitigating measures,
• The approval received from the board,
• The risk limits and the proposed treatment concerning the measurement of the risk and
• The computation of the risk-weighted assets and capital/liquidity requirements, including the run-off rates for the computation of the 6 Liquidity Coverage Ratio.
• The notification shall be done at least 60 days before the bank proposes to take the exposure.
• The approval of BOM is not required for the provision of banking services to virtual asset service providers, issuers of initial token offerings, and customers dealing with virtual asset-related activities. This includes the processing of payment transactions in respect of purchase, sale and redemption of virtual assets in exchange for fiat currencies

Source

https://www.bom.mu/sites/default/files/guideline_for_virtual_asset_related_activities_0.pdf