Africa-Press – Mauritius. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Powered Trusted Due Diligence Platform with Integrated Dynamic Scoring Engine was launched, this afternoon, by the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, and the Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Darsanand Balgobin, during a ceremony held in Ebène.
The AI Powered Due Diligence Platform, which is a joint initiative of the Financial Services Commission Mauritius (FSC) and the Mauritius Research Institute Council (MRIC), aims at moving due diligence processes into a real-time surveillance based on a risk scoring system.
It is aligned with the FSC’s overarching strategy to improve the financial ecosystem through the digitalising of the regulatory process. In his keynote address, Minister Seeruttun underlined that the launch of this technologically-advanced AI solution aimed at supporting the Regulator in meeting the ever-increasing demands of compliance in the Financial Services Sector.
He affirmed that the new tool would be a valuable addition in ensuring that Mauritius join the league of forerunners in AI Adoption indices. Mr Mahen Seeruttun stressed that the AI platform would have profound and transformative effect on supervisory work and would consolidate the good repute of Mauritius as an International Financial Centre which could be trusted as a beacon of quality and sound regulatory activity.
“It will also help raise the profile of Mauritius at the vanguard of AI adoption in regulatory technology, which is an announcement to the world that we are constantly re-engineering our processes and regulatory environment so that it is easier to establish and conduct business in Mauritius,” he added. The Minister dwelt on the range of benefits that would result from the setting up of the AI Due Diligence Platform.
They are namely: enhancing the credibility and promoting trust in regulatory activity which are essential ingredients for a competitive and successful International Financial Centre; providing supervisors with data of higher granularity, diversity and velocity ; consolidating efforts in the pursuit of excellence in Financial Crime Compliance; and increasing efficiency of the due diligence process by automating some of the steps and relieving the task of data collection from due diligence teams, thus allowing them to focus on other more critical tasks.
Furthermore, Minister Seeruttun renewed the commitment of Government in ensuring that technology contribute even further to a thriving economy and robust institutions for the well-being of the population.
As for Minister Balgobin, he informed that the AI Platform was the first project being completed under the Public Sector Transformation Scheme (PSTS) which, he recalled, was a budgetary measure introduced with a view to encouraging innovative companies and start-ups to develop applications or e-solutions for the public sector.
“The PSTS,” he underlined, “is aimed at supporting innovative collaborative projects that test new approaches and technologies by start-ups and SMEs for improving processes and enhancing service delivery in the Public Sector.
” In addition, Mr Darsanand Balgobin highlighted that the project brought AI to the forefront of mechanisms designed to enhance the security of processes in this sector, demonstrating that innovation was critical to ensure trust, resilience and sustainability in this sector.
Besides, he reiterated Government’s endeavour to establish the right ecosystem for Mauritius to embrace innovation and pledged to unleash the innovative potential of the population through his Ministry’s collaboration and support of institutions like the MRIC.
As for the Chairperson of the FSC, Mr Mardayah Kona Yerukunondu, he indicated that the FSC had partnered with the MRIC as the project pertained to a topic that was relevant to the current FSC’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism strategy.
He rejoiced that the FSC was now equipped with an engine calibrated to fit its needs, and affirmed that the AI Platform would thus allow for a smoother timely and more accurate risks screening process.
Moreover, he recalled that the FSC had embarked upon a digital transformation journey and would strive to remain a centre of trust and of good repute.
Also present on the occasion, the Executive Director of the MRIC, Professor Theesan Bahorun, said that the AI platform would help to ensure that established legal regulatory frameworks and international standards/ regulations were being followed and observed for effective mitigation of money laundering risks.
“It will also assist towards a standardised level of compliance within the sector, leading to the strengthening of adherence to legal and regulatory frameworks, in turn leading to the setting up of a comprehensive risk-based supervision framework, and thus enhance regional and international coordination,” he stated.
Professor Bahorun assured that the MRIC continually strove to strengthen the national research and innovative system of the country by promoting and facilitating development of projects, which had high impact potential in priority areas.
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