Pension scheme administrators · Special Licences

FSC · FS-1.3 · Licence

1. AdminCo’s shop

AdminCo runs records, contributions and benefit calculations for several occupational schemes. It invoices a fee per member. It does not hold scheme assets as trustee, and it is not itself a pension scheme.

That shop is FS-1.3 Pension Scheme Administrators. Second Schedule Part I lists “Pension scheme administrator”. The listing authorises the commercial administration activity specified on the FS-1.3 licence. It does not licence the scheme.

The three facts that have to stay true:

1. AdminCo is not the scheme. Scheme licences sit in the Private Pension Schemes Act. 2. AdminCo is not a governing body authorised under section 27 of that Act, and not a long-term insurer authorised to administer. 3. Beneficiary counts drive a variable annual fee. They do not turn the administrator into the scheme.

Financial Services Act section 2: “financial services” means any financial services or financial business activities governed by the relevant Acts, and includes the financial business activities specified in Part I of the Second Schedule.

Financial Services Act 2007, Section 14 · Second Schedule Part I. See the register note · Open the published text ↗.

2. A week with the 12,000-member schemes

Monday. A new occupational scheme appoints AdminCo. The trustees remain the scheme. AdminCo takes the member file, the contribution schedule and the benefit formula.

Tuesday. Twelve thousand members sit on the system. The directory’s 10,001–15,000 beneficiary band is a fee fact. Nobody writes “we are now the scheme” on the letter.

Wednesday. A trustee asks AdminCo to “just hold the surplus in your client account.” That is custody or trusteeship, not administration. AdminCo says no.

Thursday. Payroll files arrive. AdminCo matches contributions, flags arrears, and produces benefit statements. Nothing in that chain required a long-term insurance licence.

Friday. The monthly pack goes to the trustees: membership, contributions, complaints, and one death claim calculated and passed to the paying agent. That pack is the shop.

The other files on this desk should look like that first one: a named person, a specified activity, and a letter that matches the work. That is what FS-1.3 is used for. The Act matters when AdminCo applies, when the Commission writes conditions onto the letter, and when the same promoter telephones with a different idea.

3. What the same promoter asks next

The facts are fictional. The method is the course: keep the shop you have just watched, and ask which desk is now doing the work.

This licence

Administer records for several occupational schemes

AdminCo runs contributions and benefit calculations for 12,000 members. It does not hold scheme assets as trustee.

Why it fits. FS-1.3 plus the 10,001–15,000 beneficiary variable band on the directory.

Different paper

Treat AdminCo as the pension scheme

The promoter wants one paper to cover the scheme and the administrator because the same building houses both.

Why it does not. The scheme still needs its Private Pension Schemes Act permission. FS-1.3 is the commercial administrator.

Different paper

Let a long-term insurer “use” FS-1.3 instead of PPS-2.2

The insurer already writes the life book and wants the administration authorisation folded into this letter.

Why it does not. A long-term insurer authorised to administer a scheme sits in PPS-2.2, not in this code.

The promoter asks AdminCo to…	This licence?	Why
Administer records for several occupational schemes	Yes	FS-1.3 plus the 10,001–15,000 beneficiary variable band on the directory.
Treat AdminCo as the pension scheme	No	The scheme still needs its Private Pension Schemes Act permission. FS-1.3 is the commercial administrator.
Let a long-term insurer “use” FS-1.3 instead of PPS-2.2	No	A long-term insurer authorised to administer a scheme sits in PPS-2.2, not in this code.

4. Papers that sit beside this one

Not the pension scheme (PPS-1.1), not a governing-body administration authorisation (PPS-2.1), and not a long-term insurer authorised to administer (PPS-2.2). Administration systems, records and AML/CFT controls are expected; scheme registration is a different application.

Neighbouring codes have their own chapters. Do not import their books into this letter.

5. The letter and the file

A commercial administrator applies under section 14. Beneficiary-band fees on the directory are a fee fact, not a change of legal nature. The Private Pension Schemes Act sits beside this file, not inside it.

Permitted activities — the sections

Second Schedule Part I lists “Pension scheme administrator” as a financial business activity. The Schedule names the activity; it does not add a further statutory definition of the book of business. What is permitted is the business activity specified on the licence under section 18(1), read with any FSC Rules and the published criteria for this code.

Inserted into the Schedule by Act 15 of 2012. The listing authorises the commercial administration activity specified on the FS-1.3 licence. It does not licence the scheme. Scheme licences sit in the Private Pension Schemes Act sections 9, 10 and 12; an authorisation for a governing body or a long-term insurer to administer a scheme sits in section 27 of that Act (PPS-2.1 / PPS-2.2).

Licensing conditions — the sections

Section 14(1): “No person shall carry out, or hold himself out as carrying out, in Mauritius any financial services without a licence issued by the Commission.” Section 14(2): contravention is an offence, a fine not exceeding one million rupees and imprisonment for a term not exceeding 8 years.

Section 16(1): an application must be in such form and manner as FSC Rules specify and accompanied by “(a) a business plan or feasibility study outlining the proposed business activity of the applicant; (b) particulars and information relating to customer due diligence verification of promoters, beneficial owners, controllers and proposed directors …; (c) such fees as may be specified in FSC Rules; and (d) such other information as may be specified in FSC Rules or otherwise required by the Commission”.

Section 18(1): the Commission may issue a licence “authorising the applicant to carry out the business activity specified in the licence on such terms and conditions as may be specified in FSC Rules or as it deems appropriate in the circumstances.” Section 18(2) forbids a grant unless, among other things, the application complies with the law, the applicant has “adequate resources, infrastructure, staff with the appropriate competence, experience and proficiency”, adequate arrangements to supervise everything done under the licence, fit-and-proper controllers and beneficial owners, and “no prejudice would be caused or would ensue to the financial services industry”. Section 18(3): the holder “shall, at all times, continue to satisfy the requirements specified in subsection (2)”.

Section 25: the Commission may, by written notice, vary a licence. It must not restrict the authorised activity or include further conditions unless it has notified the licensee of the proposal and the reasons and given a reasonable opportunity to make representations.

Part V ongoing obligations of licensees still attach: record keeping (section 29) and audited financial statements (section 30), unless a specific exemption is granted. A circular or a criteria PDF does not rewrite those sections.

FS-1.3 criteria sit beside the Private Pension Schemes Act. Administration systems, records and AML/CFT controls are expected; scheme registration is a different application. Beneficiary-band fees on the directory are a fee fact, not a change of legal nature.

Who may hold it. A commercial administrator applying under section 14. Beneficiary counts drive a variable annual fee; they do not turn the administrator into the scheme.

Published criteria. Published licensing criteria on the FSC codified list (consolidation as at 1 July 2026) are guidance. They neither derogate from nor restrict the Commission’s statutory powers, and they must be read with the relevant Act, rules, codes and circulars. FS-1.3 criteria sit beside the Private Pension Schemes Act. Administration systems, records and AML/CFT controls are expected; scheme registration is a different application.

Rules, codes and circulars. CL20260107 for fees. Pension-scheme circulars, if any, attach to the scheme, not automatically to the administrator.

6. How to cite FS-1.3

Coordinate	As at 20 September 2026
Directory code	FS-1.3 Pension Scheme Administrators
Legal nature	Licence
Enabling law	Financial Services Act 2007 · Section 14 · Second Schedule Part I
Fees as at 1 July 2026	Processing fee Rs 30,000 (USD 900). Fixed annual fee Rs 60,000 (USD 1,800). Variable annual fee by beneficiary bands: 10,001–15,000 Rs 14,000 (USD 450); 15,001–20,000 Rs 18,000 (USD 600); more than 20,000 Rs 21,000 (USD 700). Unless the directory states a different conversion rule, USD figures apply only to an applicant for a Global Business Licence or a corporation holding a Global Business Licence. FSC Circular Letter CL20260107 (1 July 2026) records that the replacement fee schedule operates from 1 July 2026 and that annual fees are due by 30 September 2026. A circular does not rewrite the activity this code authorises.
Status at cut-off	Published directory category as at 1 July 2026. Duplicate pension-administrator directory rows were de-duplicated in the course inventory by code.

The structured library card keeps the same coordinates for search. Open FS-1.3 in the reference library.

FSC codified list of licences, authorisations, approvals, recognitions and registrations ↗Register note Financial Services Act 2007 ↗Register note FSC licensing and fees amendment rules 2026 ↗Register note FSC Circular Letter CL20260107 — review of fees and renewal of licences ↗Register note FSC rules and regulations directory ↗Register note Private Pension Schemes Act 2012 ↗Register note

Follow the sources.

Each title opens the published text. The register note records the edition used for this course.

FSC codified list of licences, authorisations, approvals, recognitions and registrations ↗ All published category codes, fees, forms and licensing-criteria columns; consolidation as at 1 July 2026 · Register note
Financial Services Act 2007 ↗ Sections 2, 14, 14A, 16–18, 25, 33, 71A, 72, 77, 77A, 77B, 77C, 78, 79A; Second Schedule Parts I–III; Fifth Schedule · Register note
FSC licensing and fees amendment rules 2026 ↗ Rule 3 and replacement First Schedule; rule 4 commencement · Register note
FSC Circular Letter CL20260107 — review of fees and renewal of licences ↗ 1 July 2026 fee review; annual-fee due date 30 September 2026; FSCOne alternative arrangements · Register note
FSC rules and regulations directory ↗ Consolidated licensing and fees rules; sector-specific rules including Securities (Licensing) Rules and Family Office Rules · Register note
Private Pension Schemes Act 2012 ↗ Sections 9, 10, 12 and 27 · Register note

FS-1.3 Pension Scheme Administrators.

By the end of this chapter