Bank Account Opening
A Mauritian bank account is a condition of most permits and a practical necessity for any company. Opening one takes longer than incorporation, and the banks' onboarding standards have risen considerably. We introduce clients to the bank that fits their profile and support the file through to activation.
At a glance
| Banks we work with | MCB, AfrAsia Bank, SBM, Bank One and ABSA Mauritius, among others |
|---|---|
| Timing | Two to six weeks from a complete file, depending on the bank and the applicant's profile |
| What the bank will ask for | Identity and address documents, source of wealth and source of funds, the business plan, and for companies, the constitution and incorporation documents |
| Personal and corporate | We arrange both. The personal account is usually opened first |
Why it takes time
Mauritian banks apply enhanced due diligence to non-resident applicants and to new companies. A file that is incomplete or inconsistent will sit. The single most effective thing we do on a bank file is prepare it properly before submission: a coherent narrative of the applicant's wealth, documents that agree with each other, and a business plan the bank's compliance function can follow.
Choosing the bank
The banks differ in their appetite by nationality, sector and account type, in their minimum balances, in their multi-currency facilities, and in how they treat a company that has not yet started trading. We know where a given profile is likely to be welcomed and we direct the introduction accordingly, rather than submitting to several banks and waiting to see which responds.
Coordination with the permit
For an Investor permit, the USD 100,000 must be transferred into the company's Mauritian account within 60 days of issuance; for Self-Employed the figure is USD 50,000 and for a Retired Non-Citizen an initial USD 2,000. Failure to transfer within the 60 days leads to deregistration and cancellation of the permit. We sequence the bank file and the permit file so that the account is open before the permit is issued and the deadline is never in question.
Tell us what the business will do
The right structure follows from the activity, the owners and where the customers are. Describe those three things and we will set out the structure, the costs and the sequence in a written proposal.