The FSC is administered and managed by a Board which consists of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and seven independent non-executive directors. The Board appoints a Chief Executive who shall be responsible for the execution of the policy of the Board and for the control and management of the day-to-day business of the Commission.
Members of the Board hold Office for a period of three years and are eligible for re-appointment.
Pursuant to section 84 of the Financial Services Act, Board members must avoid conflict of interest and where a potential conflict or actual conflict of interest arises, it must be disclosed.
Members of the Board are:
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Mr Mardayah Kona Yerukunondu
Chairperson
Mr Mardayah Kona Yerukunondu
Chairperson
Mr. Mardayah Kona Yerukunondu was appointed, with effect from 12 May 2020, as Chairperson of the Board of the Financial Services Commission, Mauritius.
He is currently the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Mauritius (BoM). Mr Yerukunondu sits on the Monetary Policy Committee. He is also a member of the COVID-19 Projects Development Committee. Prior to his appointment as First Deputy Governor, Mr Yerukunondu was the country’s first Ombudsperson for Financial Services.
Mr. Yerukunondu is a seasoned central banker. He joined the BoM in 1977 and acquired expertise in areas ranging from central bank administration, supervision, regulation, policy and compliance. He has played a pivotal role in the modernisation of the country’s banking and financial services framework.
Mr. Yerukunondu has been an ardent defender of the image and repute of the Mauritius jurisdiction. He has played a key role as official delegate in several country missions focusing on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Mr Yerukunondu has also formed part of national delegations of the ESAAMLG Task Force of Senior Officials. He is currently a member of the Statutory Core Group for Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation.
Mr. Yerukunondu has participated in discussions in high-level fora including the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements, the World Bank Treasury and Reserves Advisory & Management Partnership, the European Monetary Union and the Islamic Financial Services Board Summit.
Mr. Yerukunondu was the Chairperson of the Steering Committee set up by Government to study the social and legal aspects of Islamic financial services. He was equally the Chairperson of the Committee set up by the BoM which saw the implementation of the Credit Information Bureau in Mauritius.
Mr. Yerukunondu is a sworn barrister. He holds an LLB (Honours) from the University of London as well as, qualifications from the Institute of Statisticians. He has written academic papers on Islamic Finance published in March 2010 in the chronicle of the Bar Council and a manual on Banking for the Open University of Mauritius.
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Mr Rajeshsharma Ramloll, SC
Vice-Chairperson
Mr Rajeshsharma Ramloll, SC
Vice-Chairperson
Mr. Rajeshsharma Ramloll, SC joined the Board of the FSC Mauritius in May 2014 and has been appointed as Vice- Chairperson since 26 April 2019. He is currently the Solicitor-General at the Attorney-General’s Office. Mr. Ramloll is a barrister at Law and holds a specialist LLM in taxation and finance from the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, London.
He is currently the President of the International Fiscal Association, Mauritius Branch.
Mr. Ramloll is a fellow of the Hon. Society of Advanced Legal Studies (London) and is a member of the General Council of the International Fiscal Association. He has been the treasurer of the Bar Council for three consecutive years.
He regularly advises the Government on legal aspects of financial matters and is a tax assessor of the OECD’s Global Forum and is an author of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (Netherlands).
He has written widely in international tax journals and is on the editorial boards of Global Taxation, International Taxation and Foundation of international Taxation journals. Mr. Ramloll has contributed book chapters to the Offshore World Survey (1998, Sweet and Maxwell) and GAAR General Tax – Anti Avoidance Rules (2021, Thomson Reuters Legal). He is a regular speaker at international conferences and conducts Masterclasses in international Taxation at University faculties abroad (including the University of Lausanne).
Mr. Ramloll took silk in 2016 and was made Senior Counsel (SC) by Letters Patent on commendation by the Chief Justice.
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Mr Sarwansingh Purmessur
Board member
Mr Sarwansingh Purmessur
Board member
Mr Sarwansingh Purmessur was appointed as a Board member of the FSC Mauritius in May 2018. Currently, Mr Purmessur holds the position of Permanent Secretary and is posted to the Ministry of Financial Services and Good Governance.
He has a long and distinguished career in the Civil Service. Over the past 40 years, he has served in various Ministries and Departments, including the Income Tax Department, the Ministry of Housing and Lands, the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Technology Communication and Innovation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade and the National Development Unit of the Ministry of National Infrastructure and Community Development. Among his various responsibilities, he has also served as the Supervising Officer of the Beach Authority.
Mr Purmessur holds a master’s degree in Business Administration with specialisation in Human Resource Management from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India, a master’s degree in IT in Business Information Systems from Keele University, UK and a diploma in Public Administration and Management from the University of Mauritius.
Mr Purmessur has also served on various Boards and Committees, namely, the National Housing Development Company Ltd, the Town and Country Planning Board, the Informatics Park Ltd, the Information and Communication Technology Authority, the Rights Management Society, the Financial Services Fund, the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council, the National Committee on Corporate Governance, the National Environment Fund Committee, and the SBM Holdings Ltd. He has also served as Chairman of the Heritage City Co. Ltd ,and the National Property Fund Ltd. He is currently the Chairman of the National Committee on AML/CFT, the Chairman of the Land Drainage Authority, a Director at the Mauritius Housing Company Ltd and a member of the Financial Reporting Council.
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Mr Premchand Mungar
Board member
Mr Premchand Mungar
Board member
Mr. Premchand Mungar is a banker with extensive expertise across various sectors of the financial services industry. He was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Member of the FSC’s Board since December 2017.
He has worked with the African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) Group, a multilateral financial institution and the financial arm of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), based in Nairobi, Kenya for 16 years. In 2017, he ended his career at the Group as the General Counsel and Senior Director, but continued as a Senior Adviser to the TDB Group after his return to Mauritius. Mr. Mungar is the Chief Executive of MauBank Ltd since December 2018.
Mr. Mungar is actively involved at the Corporate Governance Development Forum spearheaded by International Development Finance Institutions to develop a framework integrating the principles of governance into investment and business operations. As a consultant, he was also involved in institutional transformation, corporate strategy and business initiatives for financial institutions.
Mr. Mungar holds a master’s degree in finance and financial law from SOAS, University of London and an LLB from the University of Mauritius. He is a qualified attorney and a member of the Mauritius Law Society since 1995.
He attended various executive education courses, including the 16th Summer School on International Financial Law organised by EuroMoney in collaboration with the University of Oxford at St Catherine’s College. He was also sponsored by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to attend to the 10th Autumn Course on International Finance held jointly with Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He holds several commendations and was awarded the 2016 President’s Excellence Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the affairs of the TDB Group.
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Ms Gayle Mary Jane Yerriah
Board member
Ms Gayle Mary Jane Yerriah
Board member
Ms Gayle Mary Jane Yerriah was appointed as a Board member of the FSC Mauritius in April 2019. She is currently a litigation barrister in practice since 2013. She holds an LLB from the University of Buckingham in United Kingdom, was called to the Bar in the UK in November 2011 and is a member of the Middle Temple Inn UK. She was also called to the Bar in Mauritius in January 2013. She is a Fellow Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK (CIArb). She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Information and Communication Technology Authority. She was also a Board member of the Anglican St Hughes home.
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Mrs Mariam Rajabally
Board member
Mrs Mariam Rajabally
Board member
Mrs. Mariam Rajabally has been appointed as member of the Board of the FSC Mauritius since April 2019. She is a Partner at a leading accounting firm and specialises in transaction advisory services and corporate finance. She has been involved in a number of large transactions in different sectors. Mrs. Rajabally also advises on local and international tax matters. She is also currently a Commissioner at the Competition Commission of Mauritius.
Mrs. Rajabally holds an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Strategy from the University of Oxford and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) with PricewaterhouseCoopers, London.
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Mr Loveneesh Beedasy
Board member
Mr Loveneesh Beedasy
Board member
Mr Loveneesh Beedasy was appointed as a Board member of the FSC Mauritius in December 2020. He currently holds the position of Legal Officer at the Mauritius Telecom Ltd.
He has taught at the Open University of Mauritius since 2018. He has been involved in the setting up of start-ups, and advises private clients on business opportunities in Mauritius. He has also acted as a consultant for Mauritian companies and has experience in compliance and trust.
Furthermore, Mr Loveneesh Beedasy holds a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from Leo Cussen Centre for Law (Australia), an LLB from the University of London, an LLM with a specialisation in International Business Law from the University of Central Lancashire and is an Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK (CIArb).
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Mr Ishwarlall Bonomaully
Board Member
Mr Ishwarlall Bonomaully
Board Member
The Secretary of the Board, Mr Ramanaidoo Sokappadu, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He was Director, Economic and Finance at the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development. He has worked in the civil service for nearly 40 years. In additional to being a Board director on several parastatal bodies and public sector companies, he had also worked as short term consultant for the Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank. He has been acting as secretary to the Board of FSC Mauritius since 2001.
The Board carries out their functions through the following sub-committees:
- Audit and Risk Committee
- The main responsibilities of the audit and risk committee include:
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monitoring and reviewing the integrity of the FSC Mauritius’ financial statements and accounting policies;
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making recommendations for approval of the FSC Mauritius’s audited financial statements;
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reviewing with management and the external auditors, the adequacy and compliance of internal control systems;
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monitoring and reviewing the internal audit function and considering regular reports from internal audit on internal financial controls, operations and risk management;
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considering the appointment of the external auditors, overseeing the process for their selection and making recommendations to the Board in relation to their appointment;
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monitoring and reviewing the external auditors’ independence, objectivity and effectiveness;
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overseeing the operation of the policies on conflicts of interest; and
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ensuring that recommendations from external and internal audit, as approved by the audit and risk committee and the Board, are followed and implemented.
- Corporate Governance Committee
- The main responsibilities of the corporate governance committee include:
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recommending to the Board on the corporate governance provisions to be implemented so that the Board remains effective and complies, as far as applicable, with the prevailing corporate governance principles; and
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ensuring that the reporting requirements and disclosures made with regard to corporate governance, whether in the annual report or on an ongoing basis, are in accordance with the principles of the Code, as far as applicable.
- Committee on Fintech Matters
- The Committee on Fintech Matters acts as a think tank and advises the Board and Chief Executive of the FSC Mauritius on Fintech matters as well as monitors the implementation of Fintech initiatives following annual National Budgets.
- It also recommends the granting of Regulatory Sandbox Authorisation to the Board of the FSC, on the basis of merits of applications.
- Staff Committee
- The staff committee is a sub-committee of the Board and ensures that the human capital remains the most valuable resource that drives the achievement of the FSC Mauritius’s strategic objectives and performance.
- Furthermore, the FSC Mauritius fosters consistent, fair and equitable employee relations in the workplace, defines and monitors activities which positively influence the effectiveness (competency, motivation, productivity, amongst others) of staff as they work towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of FSC Mauritius.
- Legal Affairs Committee
- The legal affairs committee is a sub-committee of the Board whose purpose is to assess and recommend to the Board, changes in existing regulatory framework (including FSC Rules, Codes, and Guidelines etc.) and legislation and introduce new regulatory and legal frameworks.
- It also monitors progress of complex cases or cases having a high impact on the Commission or the jurisdiction as a whole.
- Application and Approval Committee
- The application and approval committee has been set up by the Board to assess and recommend to the Board the approval of:
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Investment Banking Licences;
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New Exchange Licences;
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Payment Intermediary Services Licences; and;
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any other applications as may be recommended by the Board.
- Waivers and Exemption Committee
- The main responsibilities of the waivers and exemption committee is to assess and recommend to the Board for consideration requests from licensees for exemption from regulatory requirements and requirements imposed by FSC Rules.
For more information on the Board Committees, please refer to page 36 of the Annual Report 2020/2021.
Code of Ethics of the FSC Mauritius
Board Charter of the FSC Mauritius
The Board Charter and Code of Ethics are assessed, discussed and reviewed at the level of the Corporate Governance Committee and any proposal considered is approved by the Board.
The Organisational chart and statement of accountabilities are approved by the Board.
The Chief Executive is:
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Mr Dhanesswurnath Thakoor
Chief Executive
Mr Dhanesswurnath Thakoor
Chief Executive
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 Specialisation in Finance. Mr Thakoor also has over 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 International Organization of Securities Commissions (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, Variable Capital Company, Structured Investment-Linked Insurance Business, Peer-to-Peer Lending, Crowdfunding, and Guidelines for the issue of Green Bonds, among others. He also led a number of digitalisation-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 Bank of Mauritius.
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.