Mexico continues to face challenges in 2021, as it continues to grapple with economic fallout from the global COVID pandemic and amid policy shifts emanating from the United States, as President Joe Biden assumed the office in January. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 67, also tested positive for coronavirus after a recent business trip; … Continue Reading
On November 12, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced a bill initiative that, if enacted, will have a significant impact on outsourcing and the use of service entities currently in use to minimize Mexican employee profit-sharing obligations. The initiative includes amendments to the Federal Labor Law, the Social Security Law, the Mexican Tax Code, including … Continue Reading
As US citizens go to the polls, Latin American governments, businesses and citizens should examine how a re-elected President Trump or a newly elected Vice- President Biden may shape Western Hemisphere relations. The results of this election will certainly affect Latin America, as each candidate views the region through fundamentally different lenses. President Trump has … Continue Reading
On Monday, October 5, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented a package of 39 infrastructure projects that he intends to move forward in conjunction with the Mexican private sector. These projects would invest approximately 300 billion pesos in the communications, energy, tourism and water sectors. This announcement represents the reactivation of the previous plan … Continue Reading
With the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) recently going into effect on July 1, the President of Mexico made his first visit to the United States on Wednesday, July 8. This marks his first visit to the White House and his first foreign trip since taking office in December 2018; it comes ahead of the U.S. election … Continue Reading
On June 22, 2020, Mexico’s independent antitrust regulator (“COFECE”) filed a legal claim (controversia constitucional) with the nation’s Supreme Court arguing that the Ministry of Energy’s (“SENER”) Agreement setting forth the Policy of Reliability, Safety, Continuity, and Quality of the National Electric System (“Policy”), as published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on May … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, June 10, the Mexican court specialized in economic competition issued an order granting the definitive suspension of the Ministry of Energy’s (“SENER”) Agreement setting forth the Policy of Reliability, Safety, Continuity, and Quality of the National Electric System (“Policy”) and the independent system operator’s (“CENACE”) preoperative testing restrictions. This means that neither the … Continue Reading
Since our May 20 blog post, the Energy Regulatory Commission (“CRE”) added its name to the list of agencies disturbing Mexico’s legal and regulatory certainty. Additionally, the López Obrador administration has spent time publicly defending recent Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) and independent system operator (“CENACE”) regulatory changes affecting renewable energy projects. On the evening of … Continue Reading
On April 29, 2020, Mexico’s independent system operator (“CENACE”) notified generators of its decision to indefinitely suspend all legally mandated pre-operation tests for solar and wind projects in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such suspension purportedly seeks to safeguard the national grid against system interruptions clean intermittent energy projects could cause during the pandemic, and … Continue Reading
Over 300 manufacturing CEOs in the United States sent a letter to the President of Mexico on April 22 asking him to align Mexico’s definition of essential businesses with that of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to minimize supply chain disruptions in North America. On April 21, the Mexican … Continue Reading
As a response to the increased violence of organized crime, Mexico passed its first forfeiture law in 2008. At the time, the law was seen as an agile tool for federal and state governments to reach the financial assets of drug cartels and organized crime within the limits of existing constitutional protections. In practice, however, … Continue Reading
On May 30, United States President Donald Trump announced plans to impose new tariffs on all products imported from Mexico to the United States. Such an act would significantly impact binational trade and especially those sectors that have integrated supply chains, such as the automotive, agriculture, clothing, alcohol, electronic devices, and oil and gas industries.… Continue Reading
On Friday, May 17, 2019, the United States opted to reduce trade tensions with its immediate neighbors – Mexico and Canada – by eliminating Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum on imports from those countries, helping to pave the road for congressional approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Agreement. While global trade tensions remain, for … Continue Reading
On October 31, Fitch Ratings lowered its long-term outlook for Mexico from stable to negative, while keeping the country’s sovereign credit rating at investment grade. This, largely in reaction to Mexico President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s (also known as AMLO) statement on October 29 that once in office he plans to cancel the continued development … Continue Reading
The left-leaning 64-year old Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador “known as AMLO,” who represents the MORENA Party, won the Mexican presidential election on July 1, 2018. This victory comes after two unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2012. AMLO’s pledge to end corruption, reduce violence and decrease poverty resonated this time with Mexican voters. He will … Continue Reading
The Mexican Government announced a series of retaliatory tariffs on a diverse group of U.S. products in reaction to tariffs imposed by the United States on imports of steel and aluminum. The response from Mexico comes after more than a year of developments in the bilateral trade relationship. In April 2017, the Trump Administration self-initiated … Continue Reading
Minimizing Risks In our two previous posts, we discussed the general outline of the Mexican National Anticorruption System, and highlighted some aspects of the General Law of Administrative Responsibility and the Federal Criminal Code that affect legal entities. We now turn our attention to what these laws refer to as an “Integrity Policy” and the … Continue Reading
On our previous blog post we provided the general outline and background behind Mexico’s National Anticorruption System. On this post, we will go further into the weeds of both the 2016 amendments to the Federal Criminal Code and the compliance provisions of the General Law of Administrative Responsibility as these laws apply to legal entities. … Continue Reading
Beginning in 2015, Mexico has been promulgating sweeping anticorruption legislation. Mexico first laid the groundwork with amendments to the Federal Constitution that created the National Anticorruption System. Then in 2016, Congress passed the National Anticorruption System’s implementing legislation through a series of new laws and important amendments to existing ones.… Continue Reading
Protecting the personal data of individuals has become a major concern worldwide. As a result, several countries have adopted new regulations that aim to provide or enhance such protection. Here, we will briefly present some of the most relevant features of the data protection regulations recently adopted by the European Union (“EU”) and Mexico, two … Continue Reading
Several factors must be considered prior to filing a trademark application in Mexico. These factors include: a) prior use of the trademark; b) prior trademark registrations or applications in other countries; c) searches of identical or similar trademark registrations or applications; and, the d) accurate determination of the goods and services to be protected by … Continue Reading
September 19, 2017 – Paula Galhardo, Of Counsels at Squire Patton Boggs, will participate on a panel discussion on “Key Issues in International Agency and Distribution Agreements: Focus on Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and U.S.” at the Houston Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Section Luncheon. Panelists will review the areas that most directly affect distribution and agency agreements: anti-corruption, termination, penalties, … Continue Reading
On August 20, trade officials from the United States, Mexico, and Canada concluded the first round of negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a joint statement released following five days of talks, trade officials reiterated their commitment to updating the deal, continuing domestic consultations, and working on draft text. They … Continue Reading
This week, the Trump Administration took a major step forward in laying the groundwork for the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). On July 17, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) released a summary of the Administration’s negotiating objectives for the upcoming NAFTA talks. Under Section 105 of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation passed … Continue Reading
