Jones Day (JD Supra Mexico)

Precedents and Goals on Climate Change - In accordance with Mexican legal precedents, climate change is the "[v]ariation of the climate directly or indirectly attributed to human activity, which alters the composition of the global atmosphere and adds to the natural variability of the climate observed during comparable periods."

On March 26, 2021, Mexico President López Obrador sent a bill to Congress to modify the country's hydrocarbons law (the "Draft Bill"). Under the Draft Bill, (i) the granting of import, commercialization, and distribution permits for all hydrocarbons would be subject to storage capacity level determined by the Mexican government; (ii) suspension and termination of permits would be enabled under

The Situation: In March 2021, the reform to the Mexican Electricity Industry Law (the "Electricity Reform") came into effect. It is a material modification of the sector rules that attracted national and foreign investment to Mexico's electricity generation market, clearly favoring power plants owned by the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission at the expense of private investments. The...

The Development: Mexico's antitrust authority, the Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica ("COFECE"), released guidelines that recognize the attorney-client privilege in antitrust investigations. Background: Mexican law requires that lawyers maintain professional secrecy, which includes both a right and duty not to disclose client confidences. However, these confidentiality protections apply

The Mexican Federal Official Gazette, on June 14, 2018, published a decree amending some provisions of the Mexican General Law of Commercial Companies. This decree imposes new obligations on companies in Mexico with respect to the equity holders/shareholders registry records.

The Situation: A Tax Treaty developed to avoid double taxation, negotiated between Mexico and Spain in late 2015, was just recently published in the official gazettes of both nations. The new protocols are effective September 27, 2017. - The Result: The most significant changes relate to withholding tax rates and the exemption from capital gains taxes in certain instances. - Looking Ahead: The...

On August 17, 2017, the Protocol amending the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fraud and Fiscal Evasion ("Tax Treaty") between Belgium and Mexico was published in Mexico's Official Journal of the Federation (Belgium publication pending). The Tax Treaty became effective in Belgium on August 19, 2017, and in Mexico on August 18, 2017.

On January 27, 2017, Mexico's General Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Regulated Subjects ("Law") became effective. The Law establishes procedures to protect personal data held by government agencies and other public institutions. Up until this year, only private individuals and companies were adequately bound to establish data protection procedures.

On March 31, 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources published general administrative provisions in the Official Gazette of the Federation. These administrative provisions establish the guidelines for industrial and operational safety and environmental protection for inland transportation through petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical pipelines ("Provisions"). This...

In an unprecedented action, this month the Investigation Bureau of the Mexican Federal Competition Commission (COFECE) has brought criminal prosecutions against individuals who allegedly participated in bid rigging activities in Mexico between 2009 and 2015. This is the first criminal action COFECE has brought and is a direct result of the revisions to Mexico's competition laws in 2014, which...