Mauritius FIU Clarifies Suspicious Transaction Reporting and MLRO Escalation
Mauritius’ Financial Intelligence Unit has issued Supplementary STR Guidance Note 4.1, providing additional practical guidance on the suspicious transaction reporting process under the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act (FIAMLA). The guidance took effect on 19 August 2026.
The FIU said the supplementary note focuses on the identification and escalation of suspicious matters, the role of the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), internal assessment procedures and the requirement to report suspicious transactions promptly under Section 14 of FIAMLA.
The guidance is directed at Reporting Persons and their MLROs, with the FIU seeking to strengthen internal reporting arrangements and promote a more consistent understanding of how suspicious matters should move from internal identification and assessment to submission of a suspicious transaction report.
Existing obligations remain in force
The FIU stressed that Guidance Note 4.1 does not create a new or separate legal obligation. It supplements, rather than replaces or amends, the existing STR Guidance Note 4, which remains applicable and should be read together with the new document.
The regulator also made clear that the supplementary guidance is intended to help Reporting Persons meet their existing obligations under FIAMLA and other applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Where the guidance conflicts with legislation, the legislation prevails.
The update is significant for compliance teams because it places particular emphasis on the internal handling of suspicion: how potential concerns are identified, escalated to the MLRO, assessed and converted into timely regulatory reporting. Firms should therefore ensure that internal STR procedures clearly allocate responsibility and support prompt escalation and assessment.
