Are Mauritius Trusts Confidential?

Are trusts confidential in Mauritius? The short answer is that confidentiality is the starting point, but it is not absolute. The law places a duty of secrecy on the trustee, while a separate layer of financial-services and anti-money-laundering rules requires information to be held, checked and, in defined situations, passed on. Trust privacy in Mauritius is therefore best understood as "private from the public, visible to supervisors".

This page explains what stays private, what is declared, and who can legitimately ask to see what. It is general information, not advice: how much exposure a particular family has depends on its structure, its tax residence and the countries involved, and should be reviewed with a qualified adviser.

What the law says about trust secrecy

The central rule is section 33 of the Trusts Act 2001. As rewritten by Act 9 of 2019 with effect from 29 May 2019, it requires the trustee to keep information about the trust confidential. A court may order disclosure only on the application of an investigating authority, and only where the information is required in good faith for an investigation or proceedings concerning a financial crime.

Three features of that wording matter for anyone asking who can see a trust:

• The duty sits with the trustee. The deed, the schedule of assets and the trustee's records are not public documents. The trust is not a legal person and has no entry in a public file comparable to a company's.
• The gateway to a court order is narrow. The applicant must be an investigating authority, and the purpose must be a financial crime inquiry or trial. A curious relative, a business rival or a journalist does not qualify.
• A court decides. Disclosure under this section is ordered by a judge, not simply demanded by an official.

Trust secrecy in this sense is a legal duty and a procedural filter. It does not mean that nobody outside the family knows the trust exists, as the next sections show.

What is declared, and to whom

A Mauritius trust normally sits inside a regulated chain. Each link in that chain holds some information and has its own reporting duties.

The qualified trustee and the FSC

A trust with a Mauritian connection is administered by a "qualified trustee". Under section 2 of the Trusts Act 2001, this is an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), or another person resident in Mauritius authorised by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to provide trustee services. The Financial Services Act 2007 requires a management licence from the FSC to act as a corporate trustee or qualified trustee within the meaning of the Trusts Act.

That licensing relationship carries disclosure duties towards the regulator:

• Under section 26A(3) of the Financial Services Act 2007, the qualified trustee must give the FSC the information and documents needed to keep the trusts register, within the time and in the form the FSC sets. The FSC may also inspect the qualified trustee and have information verified at the trustee's expense.
• Under section 29, every licensee must keep, at all times, a register of the beneficial owners of each of its clients. This duty came in under Act 11 of 2018, in force from 1 October 2018. Each qualified trustee must also keep a register of every trust it administers and produce it to the FSC on request. That second duty was added by Act 11 of 2024, in force from 1 August 2024. Both apply to existing as well as new clients and trusts.
• The FSC publishes Practice Notes for qualified trustees and corporate service providers on keeping beneficial ownership information current. They cover the settlor, the trustee, the protector, the enforcer, the beneficiaries and anyone who exercises effective control.

The register itself is explained in the guide to the register of trusts, so this page does not repeat its contents. The point here is the direction of flow: the information goes to a regulator, not to the public.

Anti-money-laundering duties

The Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act (FIAMLA) lists entities acting as qualified trustee under the Trusts Act among its "reporting persons". They must carry out customer due diligence (CDD) and report suspicious transactions. Knowingly supplying false CDD information is punishable by a fine of up to Rs 500 000 and imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Two further FIAMLA points bear directly on confidentiality:

• Tipping-off. Telling a third party that a suspicious transaction report is being or has been filed is itself an offence, punishable by a fine of up to Rs 5 million and imprisonment of up to 10 years. There is an exception for compliance exchanges within a group under confidentiality safeguards. In practice, a trustee who has filed a report cannot tell the family.
• Feedback. Under section 14(1A)-(1B), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) gives reporting persons and supervisory authorities general feedback on their reporting obligations. This is guidance on the process, not a channel through which the FIU hands trust details to the public.

Banks and other reporting persons

When a trustee opens an account or deals with another regulated business, the trust's privacy is tested again. Under section 17C(5A) of FIAMLA, the trustee of an express trust must declare that capacity to the reporting person (a bank, for example) when entering a business relationship or carrying out an occasional transaction of at least Rs 500 000 or the foreign-currency equivalent. The bank then applies its own due diligence.

The bank is itself bound by confidentiality towards its customers, but it is also a reporting person with its own duties. A trust that wants to deal with financial institutions should expect to be identified to them.

Companies and foundations held in the structure

A trust often owns shares in a company, and the company has its own transparency duties that sit outside the trust deed.

Under the Companies Act, as updated in 2026, a company must make sure that any register or information required on beneficial owners is accurate, up to date and made available without delay to the competent authorities on request. It must keep a record of the steps taken to identify the beneficial owner, including a written declaration from the beneficial owner, who must tell the company of any change in status. A company that has to appoint a secretary needs a natural person of full age ordinarily resident in Mauritius, and the post cannot stay vacant for more than 3 months. Small private companies and Authorised Companies are excepted.

The incorporation process also asks for the names, identity and addresses of directors, the secretary and shareholders. These are corporate filings; they say nothing about the trust, but they show who is on the company's records. Where the trustee is the registered shareholder, the trustee's name appears rather than the beneficiaries'. The question of what a trust can legally hold, and how, is a structuring question for an adviser.

A Foundation under the Foundations Act 2012 is a different case. FIAMLA defines "legal person" to include a Foundation and names the Registrar of Foundations among the relevant authorities, so beneficial ownership transparency applies to it. A Foundation must also have a secretary who is an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence) or another Mauritius-resident person authorised by the FSC (section 13). Registration is made to the Registrar on an approved form, with a statement from a law practitioner or similar adviser confirming compliance with the Act (section 23). A Foundation is therefore more visible on the face of the record than a trust, which is a point to weigh in the trust versus foundation comparison.

Who can see what: a summary

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries are the group most often misunderstood. Confidentiality towards outsiders does not mean a beneficiary is kept in the dark, but the extent of their entitlement turns on the terms of the deed, the type of trust and the trustee's duties. The sources used for this page set out a specific entitlement only for the enforcer of a purpose trust. For ordinary beneficiaries, see how a beneficiary can request trust information and trustee duties towards the family.

A decision path for a request for information

Most requests fall into one of a few categories. The path below shows how the rules above sort them. It is a simplification and not a legal test.

Common misreadings

"A Mauritius trust is secret." The trustee's duty of confidentiality is real, but regulators, banks and (through court process) investigating authorities can obtain information. The better description is a regulated, discreet structure.

"Secrecy means the trust cannot be questioned." Confidentiality governs who may see information. It does not stop a court examining whether a trust is genuine; see sham trusts and whether a trust can be challenged. Nor does it settle what creditors may reach, which is covered in trusts and creditors.

"Confidentiality changes the tax position." It does not. Privacy and taxation are separate questions, and neither is a substitute for the other. Tax residence, reporting and the treatment of distributions are dealt with in how trusts are taxed. Mauritius has also signed a competent authority agreement with the United States for FATCA, with the local framework in Government Notice 135 of 2014 and filing handled through the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) portals, so cross-border reporting can be part of the picture.

"Old exemptions still apply." The Finance Act 2021 repealed, with deemed effect from 1 July 2021, the former exemption for non-resident trusts that filed a non-residence declaration, and the equivalent exemption for Foundations. Section 46(2) of the Income Tax Act still describes trusts with a non-resident settlor and non-resident beneficiaries, or a purpose trust whose purpose is carried out outside Mauritius, but such a trust remains taxed at the same Part IV rate of 15%. These are tax points rather than privacy points, but they show why older commentary on "offshore secrecy" should be read with care.

Practical points for families

• Expect to be identified to the trustee, the bank and any adviser. Choose people you are willing to be open with, and be accurate: false due diligence information is an offence.
• Decide in advance who will know of the trust within the family, and put that in writing for the trustee. A letter of wishes is one place where such guidance can be recorded.
• Remember that a trustee who files a suspicious transaction report may not tell you. This is not a breach of the trustee's duties to you.
• Review the structure regularly, including the people named in it. The annual trust review checklist is a convenient prompt.

If you want a regulated provider to look at your own position, you can send a request through the contact form.