Editor's choice
On 28 January 2021, the data privacy communities of the world celebrated the Data Protection Day which is an international effort to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust.
The Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 has amended some 70 pieces of legislation so as to implement the measures set out in the Budget 2020 2021. The Act came into force on 7 August 2020.
The COVID-19 (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) Act amends some 56 legislations which the COVID-19 pandemic context rendered necessary to mitigate its negative impact on the Mauritian economy and on the lives of Mauritians in general.
Our guide to the issues likely to impact businesses and the key measures taken by African governments in response to COVID-19.
While the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic subsists, the risks for businesses of not being able to fulfil their contractual obligations or of experiencing the default of the other contracting party is a real concern for economic operators. To manage this unprecedented situation and provide an adequate response, a careful analysis of the contract terms is essential to enable parties to exercise their rights if a dispute arises from non-performance. As a first step, it will generally be a question of analysing the possibility of invoking the defence mechanism of force majeure.
The unravelling situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant financial turmoil in Mauritius. A likely effect of these disturbances could result in companies going for winding-up and other alternatives available under Mauritian law.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and its development into a global pandemic, governments, public and private organisations throughout the world are taking exceptional measures to contain and mitigate its spread.
In an attempt to curb the spread of the COVID-19 in Mauritius, the government took the decision to extend the sanitary curfew until 15 April 2020. Employers around the world are facing similar challenges, dealing with government-mandated shutdowns, sick and self-isolating employees, homeworking arrangements and economical constraints.
In 2017, the Companies Act was amended to provide that the share register of companies should disclose the names and last known addresses of the beneficial owners/ultimate beneficial owners where shares are held by a nominee.
With the advent of the Workers’ Rights Act (“WRA”), we have seen our labour laws being challenged in many ways in Mauritius. At first, our attention was quickly grasped by the additional leaves which have been brought by the WRA, the calculation of the end of year bonus and, more especially, by the new definition given to the word ‘worker’ under the WRA. We should, however, realise that these are not the only elements which will affect the financial impact which the WRA is having on our economy.
On 22 February 2021, Mauritius and India signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) during the visit of India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Mauritius. The CECPA came into operation on 1 April 2021. Talks between Mauritius and India for the signature of a CECPA started back in 2015 but was suspended pending renegotiation of the Mauritius-India Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. There was a study which was commissioned as far back as 2005 to identify several areas of investments and that study showed that a CECPA would lay down the road map for encouraging Indian investments in Mauritius and joint investments in the region.
Innovation is greatly needed within our International Financial Centre to retain our existing clients and bring along new ones. We are deeply suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the slowdown of transactions worldwide and our continued presence on the European Union black list. There are however opportunities ahead which we need to master for our benefit. Here, we briefly look at three new innovative products.
If you use WhatsApp and you do not live in the European region, you may probably have received a notice via a pop-up alert entitled “WhatsApp’s terms and privacy policy update”. You have two options, either you “Accept” or you click on “Not Now”.