Mauritius

Mauritius occupies a middle position in the offshore spectrum. Its Financial Services Commission licenses forex brokers as Investment Dealers, usually inside a Global Business Company structure, under requirements meaningfully heavier than Vanuatu or Saint Vincent and meaningfully lighter than the European Union.

What the licence requires

An Investment Dealer must maintain stated minimum capital, appoint at least two resident directors, use a licensed management company, hold board meetings in Mauritius and file audited accounts. Those substance requirements are not decorative — Mauritius rebuilt them after being placed on the FATF grey list in 2020 and removed from it in October 2021, and the FSC applies them with that history in view.

Client money segregation is required and the FSC conducts inspections and publishes enforcement decisions.

Leverage and protections

There is no statutory leverage cap. Mauritian entities typically offer more than European rules permit and less than the 1000:1 seen from the lightest jurisdictions. Client classification and suitability testing are not required in the MiFID sense, and negative balance protection is contractual rather than statutory. There is no investor compensation scheme.

Trading from Mauritius

Residents can open accounts with local and international brokers. The country's financial sector is developed by regional standards, with a functioning commercial court system and a body of financial services case law — which makes it a more navigable jurisdiction for a substantial claim than most offshore centres, even though the cost still exceeds a retail balance.

What to check

Confirm the licence category actually covers dealing in securities or derivatives. An Investment Adviser licence does not authorise a firm to be your counterparty, and the two are easy to confuse when a website simply says "FSC regulated". Note also that FSC is an acronym shared with the commissions of Belize and the British Virgin Islands — ProForexBrokers.com lists them separately because they are separate regulators with different requirements.