Mauritius Global Business Company Formation

A Mauritius Global Business Company (GBC) is a resident corporation licensed by the Financial Services Commission for business conducted principally outside Mauritius. It can provide a credible platform for investment, regional headquarters and cross-border activity where management and substance are genuinely anchored in Mauritius.

The GBC should not be confused with the separate Authorised Company regime, which is designed for qualifying non-citizen-owned companies conducting business principally outside Mauritius with central management and control outside Mauritius. The Global Business Licence should therefore be selected where Mauritius is intended to be the company's place of residence and management, rather than as a label attached to a business that is actually directed elsewhere.

A Global Business Licence is a regulatory status, not simply incorporation

The FSC's current framework treats the Global Business Licence as a licence under the Financial Services Act. Applications and continuing administration are handled through the Mauritius global-business and management-company infrastructure.

The proposed activity, ownership and business purpose should therefore be assessed before the company is incorporated and licensed.

Management and control in Mauritius are central to the GBC proposition

The GBC is intended to be a Mauritius-resident corporation conducting business outside Mauritius. Governance, board decision-making, records and other substance indicators should support genuine management and control in Mauritius.

This is materially different from an Authorised Company, whose central management and control is outside Mauritius. Selecting between the regimes should follow the actual operating model. The management-company relationship is central to the global-business framework and should be established around the company's governance, records, compliance and substance requirements from the outset.

Additional financial activity can require separate licences

A Global Business Licence does not automatically authorise investment dealing, fund management, payment services or other regulated financial activities. The FSC's current codified list identifies separate licensing categories where applicable.

Tax treaty access, substance, banking and accounting should also be assessed against the company's genuine activities rather than assumed from the GBC label. The distinction from an Authorised Company is commercially important: an Authorised Company conducts business principally outside Mauritius but has its central management and control outside Mauritius and is treated differently for residence purposes.

How Coutts Consultants approaches a Mauritius GBC

We begin with the investors, activity, management-and-control plan and target markets before coordinating the Mauritius management company, KYC, incorporation and FSC licensing workstreams.

After establishment we identify substance, accounting, audit, tax, banking and any additional regulatory requirements with qualified Mauritius professionals. For investment, fund, financial or fintech activity, the Global Business Licence may sit alongside another FSC licence or approval. We establish that regulatory perimeter before the client commits to the corporate structure.