Mauritius, as an international financial centre and growing Fintech hub, is among the first countries in the Eastern and Southern African region to adopt a comprehensive legislation on virtual assets and initial token offerings through the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offerings Services Act 2021 (VAITOS). The Act, which came into force in February 2022, regulates the new and developing business activities surrounding VAs and ITOs and makes provisions for, inter alia, managing, mitigating and preventing money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation risks associated with VA and ITO services. This webinar focuses on the latest regulatory and market changes, and aims to shed light on the practical implications of the ongoing initiatives on the virtual asset ecosystem.

In this webinar, we will hear from expert speakers who will elaborate on:

• The VAITOS Act
• Authorisation and Supervision processes of VASPs
• Ongoing fintech / VA initiatives.
• Asset tokenisation and other opportunities

Speakers:

Mr Dhanesswurnath Thakoor is the Chief Executive of the FSC Mauritius since 18 May 2020. He holds a master’s degree in Information Technology, Electronics and Systems Automation from Polytech Lille-France and an MBA with specialization in Finance. Mr. Thakoor also has 25 years of Central Banking experience. In his capacity as Chief Executive, Mr. Thakoor represents the FSC Mauritius in a number of international regulatory bodies and committees including the IOSCO, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) and the Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Banking Financial Authorities (CISNA). The FSC Mauritius is the Africa/Middle-East Regional Committee (AMERC) representative in the IOSCO Board for the term 2022-2024. Mr. Thakoor spearheaded results-driven initiatives at the level of FSC Mauritius to complete the action items to address the strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF. These efforts have been instrumental for Mauritius to exit the FATF Grey List in October 2021. Mr. Thakoor has also been at the forefront in the establishment of a modern regulatory framework of a spectrum of innovative financial products and services such as Virtual Assets, VCCs, SILIB, Peer-to-Peer Lending, Crowdfunding and Guidelines for the issue of Green Bonds, among others. He also led a number of digitalization-driven projects among which the FSC One Platform and is now leading the National Insurance Claims Database project.

Prior to joining the FSC Mauritius, he held the post of Assistant Director – Payments Systems and the Mauritius Credit Information Bureau at the BoM. He was also a member of the internal Fintech Committee and a member of the National Regulatory Sandbox License technical committee at the BoM. Mr. Thakoor is a member of the Core Group for AML/CFT, the National AML/CFT Committee, the Interagency Coordination Committee, the National Regulatory Sandbox Licence Committee, the National Sanctions Committee, the National Committee on Corporate Governance, the RCE Governing Board and the Financial Reporting Council.

Ms Teenoosha Boyjoo is an Acting Manager in the AML/CFT Directorate of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). She has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services regulation industry. She joined the FSC in 2007 and has served the institution with different responsibilities. Ms. Boyjoo is currently the chairperson of the Joint Coordination Committee (AML/CFT) between the FSC and the Bank of Mauritius Working Group on AML/CFT, and of the Working Group on AML/CFT between the FSC and Mauritius Finance. She is also a member of various committees and working groups with different organisations pertaining to AML/CFT. She has represented Mauritius on several platforms including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group. She also represented Mauritius during the FATF onsite visit in September 2021. In 2022, she was also part of the Working Group on Recommendation 15 of the FATF. Ms. Boyjoo is a trained FATF Assessor and holds a master’s degree in Risk Management from the University of Mauritius and a bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Kent, UK.

Mr Kamal Burun is Assistant Director and heads the Authorisation Directorate at the Financial Services Commission. He previously worked for a major international bank where he held various positions in Mauritius and in Hong Kong where he has served in local and regional tax advisory roles. He also led on the implementation of financial crime compliance programmes while at the bank, covering anti-money laundering and sanctions. He has served as director of a number of investment and fund companies. Kamal has also worked as a consultant advising on cross-border tax planning in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a Chartered Tax Adviser and a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CISI). He was previously a member of the Executive Committee of the International Fiscal Association – Mauritius Branch.

Mr Shailendrasingh Doongoor has accumulated 20 years’ experience at the Financial Services Commission and has built a solid track record in supervising teams in the capital markets, investment funds, global business and fintech sectors. He possesses in-depth knowledge of the regulatory framework pertaining to licensing and supervision of investment funds and intermediaries, capital markets intermediaries, global business and fintech operators. He has expertise in areas such as AML/CFT, customer due diligence, supervision, licensing, fund structuring, investment banking, etc. Mr. Doongoor is currently Acting Senior Manager in the Authorisation Directorate. He is a graduate in Accounting, a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and holds an MBA in Financial Services from the University of Mauritius.

Mr Ashveen Gopee is the founder and managing partner of Lex Frontier law firm which is a member law firm of the Alliott Global Alliance a network of independent law firms present in 245 cities across the world. He leads the crypto practice and sits on the Asset Recovery practice within the Alliott Global Alliance. Mr. Gopee has over 15 years of practice in the corporate sector and financial market. He also graduated and worked as an engineer with experience in programming. Owing to this combination of background, one integral part of Ashveen’s practice is FinTech. He currently chairs the Fintech Working Group set up by the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance, which has the mandate to identify roadblocks and challenges in the fintech development strategy of Mauritius and make recommendations. Mr. Gopee is the chairperson of the Fintech Committee of Mauritius Finance. Mr. Gopee’s article on a “Global Overview of the Legal Status of Cryptoasset” was published in the Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation published by Thompson Reuters, trading as Sweet and Maxwell. Prior to founding Lex Frontier, he was an associate director at and a founding member of PwC Legal (Mauritius).

Mrs Jessica Naga is a FinTech barrister and entrepreneur. She is the Group CEO of the Mauritian headquartered MINDEX Group of companies, which includes MINDEX Digital Custodian Limited, the first licensed Virtual Asset Service Provider of Mauritius, and MINDEX Limited, the first digital securities exchange of Mauritius. Jessica co-founded the MINDEX Group with the goal of addressing financial infrastructure deficiencies in Africa and using blockchain technology to optimise the creation, storing and trading of assets. She co-foundered the Digital Partners Network Group, which provides tailored legal and other professional services to meet the demands of disruptive businesses, which focus on automation, digitalisation and blockchain technology. She also co-founded the Seychelles-based SECDEX digital ecosystem. In 2020, Jessica was the laureate of Women In Africa 54 (WIA 54) in the digital sphere, and in 2021 and 2022, formed part of the 100 International Women in FinTech Power list of Innovate Finance, UK.

Mrs Hemlata Nundoochan is the Chief in the Supervision Department at the Bank of Mauritius. She has been working at the Bank for 28 years now. She started my career in the Research Department and went on to work in the Financial Markets Department, Reserves Management and Statistics Divisions. For the past 10 years, she has been assigned as Chief in the Supervision Department wherein the main responsibilities involve offsite surveillance and onsite examinations of banks’ licencees.