Mauritius’ Financial Services Commission said on Tuesday that the offshore fund at the centre of the conflict of interest allegation Hindenburg Research filed against the head of Sebi is not domiciled in the island nation and does not allow the creation of shell companies.
In a statement, FSC said it has taken note of the content of the report published by Hindenburg Research on 10 August 2024, which mentions “shell entities based in Mauritius” and Mauritius as a “tax haven”.
“The Hindenburg report also mentions that ‘IPE Plus Fund’ is a small Mauritius offshore fund and that ‘IPE Plus Fund 1 is a Mauritius-registered fund’. We wish to clarify that IPE Plus Fund and IPE Plus Fund 1 are not FSC licensees and are not domiciled in Mauritius,” it said.
Hindenburg on Saturday said Sebi chair Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband opened an account in 2015 with a Singapore-based wealth management firm to invest an undisclosed sum of money in a Mauritius-registered subsidiary of a Bermuda-based fund.
The Mauritius fund was run by an Adani director and its ultimate parent was the vehicle used by two Adani associates to make fund transfers and inflate share prices.
The FSC, the integrated regulator for the non-banking financial services and global business sector, denied that the fund was registered in Mauritius.
FSC said the legislative framework in Mauritius does not allow the creation of shell companies.
“Mauritius has a robust framework for international business companies. All international business companies licensed by the FSC must comply with substance requirements on an ongoing basis, in accordance with section 71 of the Financial Services Act, which is strictly monitored by the FSC,” the FSC said.
FSC stated that Mauritius strictly complies with international best practices and has been rated as compliant with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards.
“Following the peer review conducted by the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, the OECD is satisfied that Mauritius does not exhibit harmful features in its tax regimes and therefore recognises Mauritius as a well-regulated, transparent and compliant jurisdiction. Therefore, Mauritius cannot be classified as a tax haven,” it added.
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