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The Mauritius Offshore Fund

Mauritius is an established offshore fund jurisdiction with an internationally recognised but pragmatic regulatory environment and extensive double tax treaty network making it a domicile of choice for offshore funds.

A Guide to the Mauritius Offshore Fund

Since its inception as an International Financial Centre in the early 1990s, Mauritius has emerged as the optimal jurisdiction for structuring cross-border investments into Asia and Africa, particularly India and China. Mauritius is also an established offshore fund jurisdiction with an internationally recognised but pragmatic regulatory environment and extensive double tax treaty network making it a domicile of choice for offshore funds.

The Mauritian Legislation provides for two categories of investment companies (funds):

  • Open-ended funds also known as Collective Investment Schemes (CIS); and
  • Closed-end funds commonly known as Private Equity Funds.

They are setup as per the Securities Act 2005 and Securities (Collective Investment Schemes and Closed-end Funds) Regulations 2008. A Collective Investment Scheme (‘CIS’ / Offshore Fund / Global Fund) is defined under the Securities Act 2005 as a scheme constituted as a company, a trust, or any other legal entity (e.g a limited partnership) prescribed or approved by the Financial Services Commission(FSC) in Mauritius:

  • whose sole purpose is the collective investment of funds in a portfolio of securities, or other financial assets, real property or non-financial assets as may be approved by the FSC;
  • whose operation is based on the principle of diversification of risk; that has the obligation, on request of the holder of the securities, to redeem them at their net assets value, less commission or fees; and
  • where the participants do not have day to day control over the management of the property, whether or not they have the right to be consulted or to give directions in respect of such management.
  • includes closed-end funds whose shares or units are listed on a securities exchange; but
  • excludes such schemes as are specified in Part II of the Schedule SA 2005.

A Closed-end Fund means an arrangement or a scheme, other than a CIS, whose object is to invest funds, collected from investors through an offer or from sophisticated investors, in a portfolio of securities, or in other financial or non-financial assets, or real property. A “Global scheme” is defined under the Securities (Collective Investment Schemes and Closed-end Funds) Regulations 2008 (“Regulations”) as a company or any other legal entity approved by the FSC, holding a Category 1 Global Business Licence (GBL 1) and authorized to carry out activities falling within the definition of a Collective Investment Scheme.

  • Fully regulated CIS (meant for Public Funds).
  • Professional CIS: professional CIS are CIS which offer their shares solely to sophisticated investors or as private placements. The Professional
  • CIS are exempted from most on-going obligations/regulations generally imposed on public CIS.
  • Specialised CIS: a Specialised CIS is a CIS which invests in real estate, derivatives, commodities or any other product authorised by the
  • Financial Services Commission.
  • Expert Fund: an Expert Fund is a CIS that has applied to the Commission to be licensed as an Expert Fund. Expert Funds are only available to expert investors.
  • Minimum funding requirements
  • Changes in any constitutive documents, managers, ownership must be notified.
  • A custodian needs to be appointed.
  • A local auditor must be appointed, which is approved by the commission.
  • Adherence to specific guidelines for advertisement
  • Adhere to its licensing conditions such as capital requirement, PI cover, restrictions in dealing in certain securities

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OCRA Worldwide announces strategic merger with Acclime

17th November 2022, Hong Kong - OCRA Worldwide (OCRA), announces today that it has completed the strategic merger with Asia Pacific’s premier corporate services provider Acclime (www.acclime.com). This is the latest step in Acclime’s active expansion as the Asia specialist in compliance and corporate services throughout the region.

Established in 1975 and led by Bart Dekker and Dharmesh Naik, OCRA is one of the industry pioneers in the corporate services sector with a full suite of corporate services from company formation, company secretarial support, accounting, and HR services. Over the past 40 years, OCRA has become a truly global business by providing very personalised services to their clients, most of whom are private investors or companies investing abroad.

From its founding base in Europe, OCRA has morphed over the past decade to focus on the faster growing markets of Asia and the Indian Ocean, and currently has teams in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mauritius and the Seychelles with around 80 staff. Additionally, OCRA is licensed in Samoa and the UAE to provide incorporation services to clients and referral partners.

"The high quality of the team, the interesting gateway jurisdictions of Mauritius and UAE which are important investment hubs for Africa and India, and the synergy of offering OCRA clients more services and Asian locations for expanding their business were the strategic logic for Acclime's interest in acquiring OCRA," said Martin Crawford, CEO and Co-Founder of Acclime. "We look forward to introducing OCRA’s corporate clients to our regional experts in China, Hong Kong, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam," he added.

The sale of the business was managed by the corporate advisory team of Mazars in London (Paul Joyce & Fred Dearden), acting for the ultimate shareholder of OCRA, and was opened for bids. "Acclime was chosen as the preferred bidder as the team recognised the cultural similarities, with high quality, personalised services at the core," said Bart Dekker, OCRA’s Managing Director, Asia Pacific. Dharmesh Naik, OCRA's Managing Director, Middle East and Indian Ocean, added, "We are excited and delighted to become an integral part of a large international team with the established resources across Acclime's network, and to execute the transaction in line with OCRA's long term succession plan in the interest of all of our stakeholders."

OCRA will operate as an independent business unit within Acclime, supported by funding, IT and marketing initiatives that will grow the business further. Bart Dekker and Dharmesh Naik will remain running the business post-acquisition.

The transaction is subjected to regulatory approvals in several locations and Acclime is expected to complete the acquisition by the end of 2022.

About OCRA
Established in 1975, OCRA is one of the industry pioneers in the corporate services sector with a full suite of corporate services from company formation, company secretarial support, accounting and HR services. For over 40 years, OCRA has been providing personalised services to its clients, most of whom are private investors or companies investing abroad.

About Acclime
Acclime, the premier corporate services provider in Asia, helps corporate and private clients to advance their businesses and interests in difficult-to-navigate markets in emerging Asia. The company’s vision is to reinvent the corporate services sector with innovative solutions that are seamlessly delivered to the highest global standards.

Enquiries: enquiries@ocra.com