The setting up of the Financial Services Institute (FSI) as announced in the Budget 2015/16 is a substantial stride onward for the development of Mauritius as an IFC. This initiative goes in line with the ambition of the government of Mauritius to further diversify and enhance the financial services industry. As Mauritius aims highly to move beyond as a tax-centric jurisdiction, the focus on offering value-added services and new financial opportunities is a decisive step in the phase of its development.

From this outset, the creation of a Financial Services Institute, is a step to propel Mauritius as a robust IFC, highly focusing on front-office operations and specialised human resources. The FSI falls under the aegis of the Financial Services Promotion agency (FSPA). As the FSPA conducts promotional activities and strategy to attract investors to Mauritius, the FSI train and develop the financial knowledge and skills that are sought by the investors.

The constant changing dynamics in the global financial services trends indicates the must to move towards a higher phase of product development whilst expanding the opportunities for investment in the financial services industry. Bearing this mind, the Ministry of Financial Services initiated the Financial Services Institute to train and form a high level of human resources with specialised knowledge on specific financial services products, legislative frameworks, investment strategies, technology and business settings to meet up the needs of the financial services industry.

The aim of the FSI is to bridge the gap between knowledge and the real world application for financial services professionals with a goal to build a pipeline of new talent to support growth and development in the industry. This capacity building strategy will enable the current and future financial practitioners to sharpen and improve their sets skills and abilities to perform efficiently and excel in their respective jobs. Furthermore, the FSI have the mandate to educate on specific financial product offerings such as Captive Insurance, Commodities Exchange; and Derivatives Markets, amongst others, to ensure well informed decision are being made.

The core principles of this financial academic institution also englobes to improve a shared responsibility across the Mauritian government, business community and the education sectors, to develop resources for financial graduates to engage effectively in the operations of the financial services sector and finally, to enable a diverse way to provide information and delivering lectures while combining work and study.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September 2015 in view to foster strategic relationship and facilitating channels for knowledge sharing. One of the main gist of the MOU, is to enhance the cooperation in areas of education, training and knowledge transfer; surveillance and Technology Transfer. Consequently, the MOU will enable the Indian financial institutions to collaborate with the FSI to the offer an extensive partnership in specific financial areas, mainly on derivatives and capital markets. Additionally, the Fitch Learning and the African Financial Learning Access, training institutions specialised in the formation in finance, banking and non-banking activities will also contribute to the FSI curriculum programs.

According to the CEO of Fitch Learning, Andreas Karaiskos; "Mauritius brings to the table strong geographical connections, a robust legal framework and infrastructure and a recognized for their thirst for knowledge. The institution is set to play a major role as a regional learning centre in the African region".

The Financial Services Institute represents a strategic vision of the Ministry of Financial Services to enhance sustaining competencies for the future labor market needs. Collaborative partnerships with internationally recognized institutions to deliver customized study courses of international standards will increase the leverage of Mauritius financial system. The FSI is a significant learning platform to fit in the right skills, to do the right job, at the right sphere in the financial services industry.

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