Mexico: Proposed decree reforming financial laws sent to Chamber of Deputies for approval

A draft decree amending several Mexican financial laws on administrative procedure (Decree) has been sent to Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies for discussion and final approval.

Morena Parliamentary Group first submitted the draft to the Mexican Senate in March 2023. The United Treasury and Public Credit Commissions and the Legislative Studies Commission approved it thereafter, making it eligible for Chamber approval.

According to the Decree's explanatory memorandum, the legislative initiative aims to provide legal certainty to companies or individuals who are subject to the laws that regulate the Mexican financial system and are subject to an administrative sanctioning procedure.

The Decree proposes to amend the following laws:

• Law for the Transparency and Regulation of Financial Services
• Law for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services Users
• Law on Credit Institutions
• Securities Market Law
• Law to Regulate Financial Groups
• General Law on Credit Organizations and Auxiliary Activities
• Law to Regulate Credit Information Companies
• Investment Funds Law
• Law on Popular Savings and Credit
• Law to Regulate the Activities of Savings and Loan Cooperative Societies
• Law on Credit Unions
• Law to Regulate Financial Technology Institutions
• Law on Insurance and Bonding Institutions
• Law on Retirement Savings Systems

The draft Decree proposes to modify the administrative sanctioning procedure provided for in each of these laws to include the following:

1. The authority has five years to initiate the corresponding administrative sanctioning procedure, starting from the date of the infringement.
2. Once the administrative sanctioning procedure has been initiated and the authority has notified the infringing entity, the entity will have ten business days to offer evidence, which may be extended once. After this period, the authority will have 60 business days to admit or reject the evidence offered in the procedure.
3. Once the authority decides on the admission or rejection of evidence, the authority shall notify the alleged infringer that it has five business days to submit its allegations.
4. Following the allegations period, the authority will have 180 business days to issue the final resolution of the administrative sanctioning procedure and notify the infringing entity.

For more information, please contact the authors.

Read this article in Spanish.