The Mauritian Variable Capital Company
The VCC joins the suite of corporate vehicles in the Mauritius IFC
The variable capital company (“VCC”) has been added to the array of attractive commercial entities available in the Mauritius International Financial Centre by the coming into force of the Variable Capital Companies Act (“VCC Act”) on 16 May 2022.
What is a VCC
The VCC is a new type of investment fund entity which complements the other fund entities in Mauritius. The VCC allows for the setting up of sub-funds and special purpose vehicles within the same entity, facilitating the segregation and ring-fencing of assets and liabilities of each of the sub-entities.
The Mauritius Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) can approve the operation of a sub-fund as a collective investment scheme or a closed-end fund. The fund manager of a VCC can thus, under one single entity, manage a collective investment scheme sub-fund and a closed-end sub-fund. There is no restriction on the number of sub-entities that can be created under a VCC structure, although the creation of a sub-entity requires the prior approval of the FSC.
A VCC is governed by the VCC Act but is incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act and is required to comply with the all the provisions of the Companies Act that are not expressly excluded under the VCC Act.
A VCC is now added to the definition of ‘financial institution’ under the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act and a VCC has to fully comply with the AML/CFT laws of Mauritius.