{"id":21019,"date":"2021-08-20T00:23:23","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T22:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pfser.com\/?page_id=21019"},"modified":"2026-10-05T13:03:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T11:03:57","slug":"forex-license-in-mauritius","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pfser.com\/en\/forex-license-in-mauritius\/","title":{"rendered":"Forex License in Mauritius"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Forex License in Mauritius: Benefits, Cost and Requirements in 2026<\/h2>\n

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Why brokers choose Mauritius<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]A regulator counterparties recognise.<\/strong> The Financial Services Commission maintains a public register, holds an IOSCO relationship and actively enforces. Mauritius left the FATF grey list in October 2021 and the EU high-risk list in January 2022. This is the difference between a licence your liquidity provider accepts and a certificate they do not.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]An effective tax rate of 3% to 3.4%<\/strong> on qualifying dealer income, through the 80% partial exemption, rather than the 15% headline rate. The conditions are real and set out below.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]No exchange controls<\/strong> on the movement of funds in or out of Mauritius.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Genuine banking access.<\/strong> HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays and AfrAsia all operate in Mauritius, and a licensed Investment Dealer can open corporate accounts locally in EUR and USD rather than depending on offshore payment agents.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Capital requirements that suit a real brokerage.<\/strong> MUR 1,000,000 of stated unimpaired capital, around USD 22,000, for the category most forex and CFD brokers hold. Compare EUR 75,000 to 750,000 for a Cyprus Investment Firm.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]A treaty network of more than 45 double taxation agreements<\/strong>, which matters where the group has substance in several countries.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Competitive professional service costs.<\/strong> A licensed management company can supply your resident compliance officer and MLRO from around USD 500 a month, which is a fraction of what the equivalent costs in an EU jurisdiction.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”#ba8350″ width_in_percentages=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1629164622382{margin-top: 75px !important;margin-bottom: 80px !important;}”]\n

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Which Investment Dealer Licence You Actually Need<\/h2>\n

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Mauritius does not issue a “forex licence”. It issues four Investment Dealer licences under the Securities (Licensing) Rules 2007, and the category you choose determines what you may legally do with a client order. Choosing wrong is the most expensive mistake in this process, because a wrong category needs a fresh application rather than a variation.<\/p>\n

The capital figures below are stated unimpaired capital. That is your money, held and maintained, not a fee paid to anyone. Capital falling below the minimum is one of the documented grounds on which the FSC has revoked licences.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Full Service Dealer, excluding Underwriting. MUR 1,000,000, about USD 22,000.<\/strong> Intermediation, dealing as principal for your own account, investment advice and portfolio management. This is the only common category that permits B-book execution, and it is what the large majority of forex and CFD brokers hold. Unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise, this is your answer.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Full Service Dealer, including Underwriting. MUR 10,000,000, about USD 222,000.<\/strong> Adds underwriting and distribution of securities for an issuer. Relevant if you bring issues to market, not if you run a brokerage.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Broker. MUR 700,000, about USD 15,500.<\/strong> Execution of client orders, portfolio management and advice. No dealing as principal, which means no B-book. Suits a pure STP or A-book model and nothing else.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”crypto-support__item–slim”][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” el_class=”custom_flex_container” width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-xs-10″][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJsZW9faGVhZC1icm93biUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Discount Broker. MUR 600,000, about USD 13,300.<\/strong> Execution only, without advice. The cheapest entry and the narrowest permission. Brokers who take it to save capital and then want to make markets need a new application.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner text_color=”” text_hover_color=”” width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-1″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1629162921432{padding-top: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 60px !important;}”][vc_column]\n

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What a Mauritius Forex Licence Costs, and How It Is Taxed<\/h2>\n

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FSC fees, effective 1 July 2026<\/h3>\n
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Full Service Dealer excluding underwriting:<\/strong> USD 1,000 processing, USD 3,400 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Full Service Dealer including underwriting:<\/strong> USD 3,000 processing, USD 9,500 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Broker:<\/strong> USD 700 processing, USD 2,700 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Discount Broker:<\/strong> USD 300 processing, USD 2,000 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Global Business Licence,<\/strong> payable in addition for every category: USD 600 processing, USD 2,600 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A typical forex broker therefore pays USD 1,600 in processing fees and about USD 6,000 a year to the regulator. Those are the smallest numbers in the project.<\/p>\n

What the licence costs to run<\/h3>\n
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Management company and compliance outsourcing: USD 6,000 to 66,000 a year, depending on how much you staff locally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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FSC and Global Business Licence fees: USD 4,600 to 12,100 a year by category.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Statutory audit: USD 3,000 to 8,000 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Professional indemnity insurance: USD 2,000 to 10,000 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Budget USD 40,000 to 75,000 for a first year<\/strong>, including capital, incorporation, the management company, FSC fees and audit. Later years fall as formation costs drop out, but the compliance line does not shrink.<\/p>\n

That is three to four times what an offshore certificate costs, and it buys something an offshore certificate cannot. The question is not whether Mauritius is more expensive than an Anjouan authorisation<\/a>. It is whether your banks, liquidity providers and institutional clients will work with you without it.<\/p>\n

One structural point worth planning for early: the FSC also licenses digital asset activity, and groups running both forex and crypto commonly hold two permissions inside a single Mauritius structure rather than splitting across jurisdictions. The substance you build for one carries the other. See crypto licensing in Mauritius<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How a Mauritius Investment Dealer is taxed<\/h3>\n

The figure everyone quotes is 3%. The accurate figure for most brokers in 2026 is 3.4%<\/strong>, and understanding the difference is what keeps a structure standing.<\/p>\n

Corporate income tax is 15%. Under the Income Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2022, 80% of the income of a licensed corporate investment dealer is exempt, taking the effective rate to 3% on qualifying income, and the exemption has applied since the year of assessment 2022\/2023. The Corporate Climate Responsibility Levy, in force since 1 July 2024, then adds 2% for companies with turnover above MUR 50,000,000, roughly USD 1.1 million. Above that threshold the effective rate is 3.4%. Below it, 3%.<\/p>\n

Three activities qualify:<\/strong> acting as an intermediary in the execution of securities transactions for other persons; trading in securities as principal for your own account with the intention of reselling to the public; and underwriting or distributing securities for an issuer or holder. Note what is absent. Administrative and account-maintenance fees are not dealer income and do not qualify, so if a material share of your revenue comes from charges of that kind, part of it sits at 15% and your blended rate is not the brochure figure.<\/p>\n

And the condition most pages skip.<\/strong> The exemption requires your core income generating activities to be carried out in Mauritius. Three tests apply: the activity has to be strategic and revenue-generating rather than administrative, so dealing decisions qualify and processing paperwork does not; you need qualified staff, directly or through a management company you demonstrably monitor; and local expenditure has to be justifiable as proportionate to the scale of the operation, with no fixed threshold but a real expectation. This is claimed on a return and defended if challenged. The Revenue Authority has litigated partial exemption eligibility, the Supreme Court has ruled on it, and the Privy Council returned to the question in July 2026.<\/p>\n

If you form part of a group with consolidated revenue of EUR 750 million or more in two of the last four years, the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax applies from the year of assessment commencing 1 July 2025 and brings the rate to 15%. Most brokers are nowhere near that threshold.<\/p>\n

And the point that decides real outcomes: a 3.4% Mauritian rate is not a 3.4% rate for you. Your own country of residence may attribute the profits through controlled foreign company rules or treat the company as resident where it is actually managed. We assess both sides before recommending a structure, as part of international tax planning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Forex License in Mauritius – Useful Information<\/h2>\n

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