Mauritius: CBRD company search, document fees and beneficial ownership

How to search a company online

The CBRD home page links to a service called Search Online (free of Charge) at onlinesearch.mns.global ¹. A CBRIS user guide dated August 2023 says the search service is free of charge and that no user id or password is needed. That guide gives the address onlinesearch.mns.mu ⁶.

CBRIS is the Companies and Businesses Registration Integrated System. The guide says it was developed for the CBRD and directs users to Mauritius Network Services (MNS) to register ⁶. Filing annual returns, incorporating a company and paying fees through CBRIS need a login and password ⁸.

Ordering an extract or certificate

The CBRD Request for Documents page sets out the fees and time frames below ². A signed request for an extract can be handed in at the CBRD counter on Level 5. A request for a certificate of current standing can be made online or at the counter ². For other documents, applicants register with MNS. The CBRD says its online platform is being upgraded to handle such requests ².

Annual registration fees for 2026, payable to the Registrar under part 1 of the Twelfth Schedule to the Companies Act 2001, are listed on a separate CBRD page. Amounts are in rupees, except for Authorised Companies, which are listed in US dollars ⁷.

The right to inspect documents

Section 14(1) of the Companies Act 2001 lets a person inspect any document in a register kept by the Registrar, on payment of the prescribed fees and at times the Registrar decides ⁵. Where a service address is on file, the usual residential address is left out of the particulars open to inspection ⁵. Section 14(9) says the fees do not apply to a Ministry or Government Department ⁵. The consolidated Act on the CBRD site does not state the inspection fee amount ⁵.

Beneficial ownership rules

Section 2(1) of the Companies Act 2001 defines a beneficial owner or ultimate beneficial owner as any natural person who owns or controls a company at the end of the chain ⁵. A CBRD guidance note dated 5 October 2026 sets the test at 20 percent of shares, held directly or through intermediaries, or 20 percent or more of voting rights ⁴.

• An application to incorporate a company must include a declaration regarding beneficial ownership under section 23(1)(viii) ⁵.
• The application must give the name and usual residential address of any beneficial owner under section 23(2)(da) ⁵.
• Legal persons must disclose beneficial ownership in all cases, including nominees, and file accurate information with the CBRD ³.
• Records must be kept for at least seven years, even after an entity is removed from the register, under section 190 ³.
• Partnerships must file beneficial ownership details within 14 days of any change, under section 11A(4)(b). A failure is an offence with a fine of up to 300,000 rupees ⁵.

Who can see beneficial ownership data

Section 11(3) of the Companies Act 2001 requires the Registrar to keep a Beneficial Ownership Register. The register is accessible to all competent authorities and to other public sector authorities that may be prescribed ⁵.

Section 14(11) bars the Registrar from disclosing the beneficial ownership information to any person. The exceptions are a request from the beneficial owner, a need for an investigation or enquiry, and an order of a court or a Judge in Chambers ⁵. The CBRD says one aim of the register is timely access to verified information by competent authorities and law enforcement agencies ³.