India’s Central Government specifies Mauritius as an eligible country for “Category 1 foreign portfolio investor”

Entities from Mauritius under SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations 2019

Today India's Ministry of Finance issued an order clarifying that Mauritius has been specified as an eligible country under Regulation 5 (a) (IV) of FPI Regulations. This initiative further strengthens the investment flow into India from Mauritius as a preferred route for investors with its robust and credible International Finance Centre.

As per Regulation 5 (a) (iv) of the SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations 2019, the “Category 1 foreign portfolio investor” shall include entities from the Financial Action Task Force member countries or from any country specified by the Central Government by an order or by way of an agreement or treaty with other sovereign Governments. This would imply that entities from Mauritius that fall under the below mentioned categories would be eligible for Category 1 FPI registration.

• Appropriately regulated funds.
• Unregulated funds whose investment manager is appropriately regulated and is registered as a category 1 FPI; provided that the investment manager undertakes the responsibility of all the acts of commission or omission of such unregulated fund.

The Central Government hereby specifies Mauritius as an eligible country for the purpose of Regulation 5 (a)(iv) of SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations 2019.

How can SANNE assist?

The appropriately regulated funds in Mauritius currently with Category 2 FPI will be upgraded to a Category 1 FPI over the next few days. Whilst some DDPs may request additional information to complete files, minimal formalities are expected.

*This is a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, Financial Markets Division.