Guozun Cathay Associates Mauritius Office was officially established in September 2024 in the Central Business District of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.
This document constitutes the official unified fee schedule for the 2026 financial year issued by Guozun Cathay Associates Mauritius Office. All quoted fees are exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) levied in Mauritius at the prevailing rate. Settlement may be made in any of four major currencies: Mauritian Rupee (MUR), Renminbi (CNY), United States Dollar (USD) and Euro (EUR), at the client’s election.
1. Compliant Fee Models
All fee arrangements of this office are conducted in strict compliance with the Legal Profession Act of Mauritius, as well as the practice regulations and fee management guidelines issued by the Law Society of Mauritius. Having regard to the customary requirements of Chinese-funded enterprises in respect of cross-border legal services, we have established five standardised compliant fee models, which fully align with Mauritius’ judicial and regulatory requirements and prevailing international standards for commercial legal services:
1.1 Fixed Fee Arrangement
Applicable to basic legal matters with standardised service processes and workloads that can be accurately quantified in advance. The total service fee is fixed in a lump sum upon execution of the engagement letter, with no hidden charges. Coverage includes standardised services such as incorporation of commercial entities, basic compliance filings, standard legal document drafting, and business licence applications.
1.2 Hourly Rate Basis
Applicable to non-standardised services including major cross-border investment projects, complex and intractable dispute cases, customised offshore structure design, and in-depth specialised compliance consulting. Fees are calculated based on the actual chargeable working hours of our solicitors. A detailed time record statement is provided to the client on a monthly basis, ensuring full verifiability and traceability throughout the service process.
1.3 Ad Valorem Fee Basis
Applicable to property-related legal services such as cross-border mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, high-value asset transactions, commercial claims, and investment and financing. A tiered fee structure applies based on the subject-matter value of the case or project, fully consistent with the prevailing industry practice for high-end commercial legal services in Mauritius.
1.4 Contingency Fee Arrangement
This arrangement is only applicable to debt collection, commercial recovery and tort claim cases, within the framework permitted by the solicitors’ practice regulations of Mauritius. Fees are payable only upon successful outcome of the case or actual recovery of funds. The maximum fee ratio shall not exceed 25% of the total amount actually recovered.
1.5 Annual Retainer Arrangement
Provides comprehensive annual legal support to enterprises, with a fixed annual service fee.
2. Solicitor Hourly Rate Standards
All practising solicitors at Guozun Cathay Associates Mauritius Office hold valid practising certificates officially recognised by the Mauritian authorities. Our core team is proficient in the application of laws across both Chinese and African jurisdictions, and delivers seamless services in Chinese, English and French. Senior partners hold multi-jurisdictional practising qualifications across the Commonwealth, with long-standing expertise in core areas such as cross-border investment, offshore finance, compliance and regulation, and international dispute resolution. A standardised tiered pricing system is in place.
2.1 General Rate Range
The official unified hourly rate range for 2026 is 180 USD – 580 USD per hour, covering all levels of personnel: junior solicitors, mid-level specialist solicitors, senior partners, and cross-border experts from the Beijing Head Office. The final applicable rate for each engagement will be determined by reference to four core dimensions: complexity of the case or project, professional suitability of the assigned solicitor, urgency of the service, and configuration of the dedicated team.
2.2 Additional Billing Rules
2.2.1 A 25% surcharge for travel and fieldwork allowance shall apply to work conducted outside Mauritius but within the African region.
2.2.2 A 30% to 50% surcharge for travel and fieldwork allowance shall apply to work conducted outside the African region.
2.2.3 A 50% urgency surcharge shall apply to services requiring 48-hour expedited response, or services provided on public or statutory holidays.
2.2.4 A 20% uplift to the hourly rate shall apply to cases involving cross-border multi-jurisdictional collaboration across Africa.
2.2.5 A 15% uplift to the hourly rate shall apply to dedicated multilingual court support services.
2.2.6 A 10% to 20% uplift to the hourly rate shall apply to specialised matters including financial regulatory compliance, offshore fund structuring, and custom cross-border family trust arrangements.
3. Core Practice Areas & Official Fee Breakdown
3.1 Full-cycle Legal Services for China-Africa Cross-border Investment
Base Fee Range: 1,200 USD – 38,000 USD
3.1.1 Full-process planning and design of compliance structures for investment in Africa, including the establishment of Mauritius-based holding and transit platforms, legitimacy assessment of investment routes, and pre-screening and evaluation of cross-border investment risks.
3.1.2 Full-process legal services for greenfield investment, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, and joint venture projects in Mauritius and other African jurisdictions, covering legal due diligence of target entities, drafting of transaction documents and commercial negotiation, local regulatory approval and filing, and full-cycle compliance management of post-investment operations.
3.1.3 Specialised investment compliance support services for key African investment sectors, including energy and mining, infrastructure engineering, modern agriculture, digital economy, and high-end manufacturing.
3.1.4 Full-process supporting legal services for route planning, market access compliance review and onshore implementation of inbound investment into China by overseas entities via Mauritius.
3.1.5 In-depth interpretation of African regional cross-border investment policies, comprehensive identification of compliance risks, and formulation of customised targeted response plans.
3.2 Offshore Commercial Entities & Financial Compliance Legal Services
Base Fee Range: 5,000 USD – 78,000 USD
3.2.1 Full-lifecycle legal services for various commercial entities in Mauritius, including Global Business Companies (GBCs), local limited companies, foundations and partnerships, covering incorporation, ongoing compliance maintenance, information updates, and deregistration and liquidation.
3.2.2 Full-process services for the application, renewal, daily maintenance and regulatory liaison of all types of financial licences in Mauritius, covering licences for fund management, cross-border investment and financing, wealth management and other related categories.
3.2.3 Services for the establishment, regulatory filing, operational compliance management and full-process risk control of offshore funds, covering private equity, securities investment, industrial funds and other types of fund products.
3.2.4 Full-dimensional compliance review of cross-border investment and financing activities, establishment of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) compliance frameworks, and dedicated response services for regulatory enquiries.
3.2.5 Compliance structure design for offshore financial transactions, and full-process supporting services for the drafting and implementation of legal documentation.
3.3 Cross-border Wealth Preservation & Family Succession Legal Services
Base Fee Range: 800 USD – 42,000 USD
3.3.1 Full-process legal services for compliance structure design, establishment and registration, daily operation management, and clause modification of Mauritius offshore family trusts.
3.3.2 Legal risk isolation for global cross-border asset allocation and customised design of asset preservation schemes, tailored to the integrated management and compliance requirements of multi-jurisdictional assets.
3.3.3 Dedicated services for overall planning of intergenerational family wealth succession, establishment of family governance systems, and drafting and implementation of family charters.
3.3.4 Full-process legal support for applications for Mauritius residence permits, permanent residence status and citizenship, including customised scheme design, qualification compliance review, and full follow-up of application procedures.
3.3.5 Full-range legal services for private clients, including cross-border matrimonial and family disputes, cross-border estate succession, and coordination of multi-jurisdictional legal conflicts.
3.4 Full-scenario Compliance Legal Services for Local Business Operations
Base Fee Range: 300 USD – 26,000 USD
3.4.1 Full-process support for the drafting, compliance review, revision and commercial negotiation of commercial contracts required for daily business operations, and full-chain compliance risk control for commercial transactions.
3.4.2 Full-range legal services relating to optimisation of corporate internal governance structures, compliance design of equity structures, protection of shareholders’ legitimate rights and interests, and establishment of internal control compliance systems.
3.4.3 Specialised compliance services in segmented areas, covering core compliance fields such as labour and employment, foreign exchange regulation, data security and privacy protection, anti-monopoly, and export control.
3.4.4 Intellectual property protection legal services across Mauritius and the wider African region, covering global registration strategy and full-process enforcement and remedy representation for trademarks, patents and copyrights.
3.4.5 Annual general counsel retainer services for enterprises, providing full-dimensional legal risk early warning and implementable solutions for daily business management decisions.
3.5 Multi-jurisdictional Cross-border Dispute Resolution Legal Services
Base Fee Range: 1,500 USD – 480,000 USD
3.5.1 Full-process representation for civil, commercial and administrative litigation cases at all levels of courts in Mauritius.
3.5.2 Full-case representation for commercial arbitration proceedings before Mauritian local and international arbitration institutions, covering all types of commercial dispute scenarios including investment disputes, contract disputes, intellectual property disputes, and shareholder rights disputes.
3.5.3 Full-process legal support for the cross-border recognition and enforcement of effective court judgments and arbitration awards issued by Chinese and African courts.
3.5.4 Diversified dispute resolution services for cross-border civil and commercial disputes, including commercial mediation, settlement negotiation, and formulation of customised risk mitigation schemes.
3.5.5 Dedicated legal services for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa, and emergency response to sudden legal incidents.
Special Note: There is no fixed fee cap for major cross-border economic crime cases, transnational financial violation cases, and major criminal cases. Fees will be customised based on case complexity, scale of cross-border collaboration, evidence-gathering difficulty and associated costs.
3.6 Cross-border Tax Optimisation & Compliance Management Legal Services
Base Fee Range: 3,200 USD – 58,000 USD
3.6.1 Compliance tax planning for cross-border investment, offshore business and cross-border trade projects, to optimise clients’ overall tax burden within a legal and compliant framework.
3.6.2 Transfer pricing compliance management, contemporaneous documentation preparation, and full-process tax risk prevention services for enterprise cross-border related-party transactions.
3.6.3 Full-process services for cross-border tax compliance filing, tax audit response, and tax dispute consultation and resolution for enterprises and individuals.
3.6.4 Full-cycle tax compliance planning for investment projects in Africa, to assist clients in mitigating cross-border double taxation risks.
3.6.5 Daily tax compliance maintenance and comprehensive risk screening services for the operation of offshore entities.
4. Key Factors Determining Legal Service Fees
4.1 Complexity of Cross-border Compliance
For matters involving multi-jurisdictional legal application across China and Africa, cross-border evidence collection, collaboration of entities from multiple jurisdictions, and coordination of multi-jurisdictional legal conflicts, fees will be uplifted proportionally according to the complexity of the matter.
4.2 Level of Industry Specialisation Barrier
Legal services in highly specialised fields such as offshore finance, cross-border investment, fund management and cross-border tax planning are charged at a higher rate than basic civil and commercial legal services.
4.3 Difficulty of Case/Project Handling
For matters including major litigation and arbitration, difficult cross-border enforcement, special regulatory response, and complex compliance structure design, fees will be dynamically adjusted based on actual handling difficulty.
4.4 Urgency of Service Response
For services requiring urgent commencement, or services provided on statutory or public holidays, the urgency surcharge will be strictly applied in accordance with official standards, with no room for negotiation.
4.5 Service Procurement & Cooperation Model
Clients opting for the annual general counsel retainer package will benefit from a 15% to 25% reduction in overall service costs compared with separate procurement of individual services.
4.6 Dedicated Service Team Configuration
Where matters require joint handling by multi-disciplinary experts, cross-border collaborative support from the Beijing Head Office, and full-process services by a dedicated multilingual team, fees will be adjusted in line with the team configuration.
4.7 Case Performance Risk Level
For contingency fee arrangements, the fee ratio is directly correlated with the probability of case success, difficulty of fund recovery, and duration of the service cycle.
5. Third-Party Costs to Be Budgeted Separately
The following costs are separate from legal service fees and shall be reimbursed at actual cost in accordance with official Mauritius fee standards or actual disbursements. Our office does not charge any agency fee or markup on these items.
5.1 Official Government Fees
Including various official charges such as commercial entity registration fees, visa application fees, court filing fees, arbitration institution fees, official intellectual property fees, business licence filing fees, and financial licence application fees.
5.2 Notarisation and Authentication Fees
Fees for local Mauritian notarisation and Hague Apostille services; fees for China-Africa consular authentication shall be settled in accordance with official fee standards.
5.3 Professional Translation Fees
Fees for multilingual translation of legal documents and court interpretation support services, settled per page or per word in accordance with local Mauritian industry standards.
5.4 Third-Party Expert Service Fees
Fees charged by judicial appraisal institutions, industry expert consultants and third-party due diligence providers, reimbursed at actual incurred cost.
5.5 Fieldwork Travel Expenses
Transportation, accommodation and fieldwork allowance expenses incurred for case handling within and outside Mauritius, reimbursed against valid and lawful receipts.
5.6 Financial Transaction Fees
Bank charges arising from cross-border fund transfers and currency conversion shall be borne by the instructing party.
5.7 Other Third-Party Fees
Fees charged by professional institutions such as audit firms, asset appraisal companies, compliance testing providers and tax agencies, reimbursed at actual cost based on the scope of entrusted services.
6. Important Notice
All fee standards set out in this document represent the official benchmark reference ranges for 2026 issued by Guozun Cathay Associates Mauritius Office, and do not constitute any legally binding offer of services. The final fee for all legal services shall be as agreed in the formal written engagement contract signed by both parties, having regard to the client’s specific requirements, the actual circumstances of the case or project, the scope of services and the level of complexity.