The Mauritian banking industry currently includes 22 banks, 5 of which are local banks, 10 are foreign-owned subsidiaries, 1 is a joint venture, 4 are branches of foreign banks, and 2 are licensed as private banks. The central bank, the Bank of Mauritius, licences these banks to carry out local and international banking business.
The banking industry in Mauritius provides a wide range of services, including traditional banking facilities, card-based payment services, including credit and debit card internet banking, and mobile banking facilities. Many banks also offer specialised services such as fund administration, trusteeship, custodial services, structured trade finance, structured lending, international portfolio management, investment banking, private client activities, and specialised finance. International banks offer a variety of global banking and financial services to institutional, corporate, and private clients.
Despite the recent turmoil seen in the international banking sector, domestically, the banking sector has performed satisfactorily, according to official figures in the February 2015 Financial Stability Report from the Bank of Mauritius.
Mauritius has quite a unique legal structure as a result of its colonial roots, in that it is a hybrid-based system that combines French civil and common law, while civil and criminal court proceedings are modelled on British practice. This system came about due to the British concession to leave the French laws intact when they took possession of the island, but as English judges preferred to use English procedures as they were more familiar, historically, English laws gradually grafted themselves onto French laws and supplanted some.
Mauritius has a single-structured judicial system that is composed of the Supreme Court and the Subordinate Courts. The subordinate courts consist of the following: the Court of Rodrigues; the Intermediate Court; the Industrial Court; the District Courts; the Bail and Remand Court; the Criminal and Mediation Court; and the Commercial Court. The head of the judiciary is the Chief Justice, and the Constitution of Mauritius is the supreme legal document of the country. Final appeals of decisions from the Court of Appeal of Mauritius can be made to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, as provided for under the Constitution of Mauritius.
Generally speaking, the judiciary is considered fair; however, it is criticised for the build-up of delays in both criminal and civil cases, and there are also complaints of police brutality and prison conditions that are considered unsatisfactory.
