Mauritius company bank account: which company, which bank

Mauritius writes its banking rule into the licence, not into the bank. Section 71 of the Financial Services Act lists what makes a Global Business Company managed from Mauritius, and one line is a principal bank account on the island at all times. Section 71A, the Authorised Company, has no bank line at all. Pick yours.

For a GBC there is one more point to plan around. The FSC's new authorised signatory regime asks that the signatories on a GBC's bank accounts include at least one officer of its management company, and the 2026 to 2027 budget proposes putting that into the Act. You keep control of the business; the bank mandate simply carries a local name beside yours.

Both company types are formed and kept through an FSC licensed management company, and the banks lean on that. AfrAsia Bank says plainly that it works with management companies that refer clients; MCB's checklist lets the management company certify the registers and sign the business plan. The Bank of Mauritius guideline allows banks to rely on a qualified introducer, as long as they can get every due diligence document from it without delay.

That middle box is why a Mauritius file tends to be cleaner than one sent cold to a bank abroad: the bank receives a pack that a regulated firm has already worked through.

The lists below follow MCB's global business checklist of November 2025, which covers GBCs and Authorised Companies alike. Other banks ask for much the same, with small twists noted on the right.

Copies from abroad are certified by a lawyer, accountant or similar professional who adds name, address and profession; address proof must be no older than three months (Bank of Mauritius guideline, paragraphs 6.89 and 6.98). Investec does not accept a copy certified twice over.

Mauritian banks price global business clients in dollars, on tariffs of their own. The pattern: a monthly fee unless you keep a high average balance. Type the balance you expect to hold, across all accounts.

VAT may apply. MCB adds an account service fee of US$10 a quarter, or US$15 a month for foreign companies.

Sending money out

Incoming transfers are free at all four. Sending a payment abroad online costs 0.15% at Standard Bank (US$35 to US$75) and 0.2% at AfrAsia (US$30 to US$60); Absa's manual transfer is 0.30% (US$100 to US$200). For a company paying suppliers every week, that line matters more than the monthly fee.

An Authorised Company is run from abroad and taxed by the place it is run from, so its money often belongs nearer the business. The law leaves that open. What decides it is whether the bank or payment firm abroad accepts a company registered in Mauritius.

Our offshore bank account guide compares how companies from other places fare with banks and payment firms, if you are still choosing where to form.

1. 1 to 2 weeksLicence and companyThe FSC approves the Authorised Company, then the Registrar incorporates it.
2. Days, on your sideThe packCertified passport, address proof, business plan, structure chart and source of funds.
3. 1 business dayBank decisionMCB's onboarding committee, once the pack is complete.
4. 2 business daysAccount detailsMCB sends them after approval, with online banking set up free.
5. Every yearReviewsUpdated owner details and accounts when the bank asks, through the management company.

Only MCB publishes its decision time; other banks give none, and we won't guess one for them. The real variable is step two. A business plan that names customers, currencies and monthly volumes saves a round of questions.

Three facts sit behind every Mauritius account, and only one of them is on the brochures.

The third is reporting. Mauritius has exchanged account information under the Common Reporting Standard since 2018, and its FATCA agreement with the United States dates from December 2013. Banks take a self-certification from the company when the account opens.

Where do you live? pick it

Spread large balances across banks if safety worries you, and keep the company's reserves in a currency it actually spends. The tax side, including when an Authorised Company stays outside Mauritian tax, is in our Mauritius tax guide.

An Authorised Company may hold crypto, trade it for itself and be paid in it. Serving clients is different: that needs an FSC virtual asset licence, which an Authorised Company can't hold. The bank wants to know which side of that line you are on before it opens anything.

Our Mauritius company page sets out what an Authorised Company can do with crypto, and the crypto company guide compares the places that license it.

It almost always goes through, and when a bank says no we bring the pack to a second one that fits the business better. Everything in the offer is on our Mauritius company page, and every yearly fee is in Mauritius annual fees and filings.