NEW DELHI: The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius on Tuesday issued a statement in response to the allegations made in the Hindenburg Research report regarding the use of Mauritian shell companies and the country being labeled as a “tax haven.”
The FSC, the integrated regulator for the non-bank financial services sector and global business, said that Mauritius has a robust framework for global business companies and does not allow the creation of shell companies.
“All global business companies licensed by the FSC have to meet substance requirements on an ongoing basis as per section 71 of the Financial Services Act which is strictly monitored by the FSC. Moreover, the FSC wishes to highlight that Mauritius strictly complies with international best practices and has been rated as compliant with the standards of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”),” the statement read.
The Mauritian regulator also clarified that the funds mentioned in the Hindenburg report, namely “IPE Plus Fund” and “IPE Plus Fund 1,” are not licensed by the FSC and are not domiciled in Mauritius.
“As per the peer review conducted by the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, the OECD is satisfied that Mauritius does not have any harmful features in its tax regimes, thus recognising Mauritius as a well-regulated, transparent and compliant jurisdiction. Therefore, Mauritius cannot be termed as a tax haven,” it added.
This statement comes in response to Hindenburg’s allegations of complex offshore structures involving these funds and their connection to Vinod Adani and the current SEBI Chairperson, Madhabi Buch.
In a joint statement, Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch,rejected the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and stated that their investment in the fund mentioned in the report was made in 2015 when they were private citizens living in Singapore, nearly two years before Madhabi joined SEBI.
The Adani Group has also termed the allegations malicious and based on manipulation of select public information. The company said it had no commercial relationship with the SEBI chairperson or her husband.
