Morgan Lewis (JD Supra Mexico)

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador approved for publication on May 4 changes to Mexico’s Hydrocarbon Law (the Hydrocarbons Reform), which is aimed to impair investors in the sector. Following publication in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación), it entered into force on May 5, 2021.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador introduced a legislative initiative on March 26 to reform Mexico’s Hydrocarbon Law (the Hydrocarbons Reform) that is aimed to impair investors in the sector. While the Hydrocarbons Reform is yet to be passed by both chambers of the Mexican Congress ...

Renewable energy investors in Mexico have recently faced a series of governmental measures that strengthened the market position of Mexico’s state-owned utility company, Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), to the detriment of private utilities.

Mexico’s Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (PROFECO)) on February 26 announced its new voluntary Ecommerce Ethics Code (Código de Ética en Materia de Comercio Electrónico), which may be adopted by entities doing online business in Mexico.

We provide a summary of the legal landscape concerning reductions in force in the following jurisdictions: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. Please see full Publication below for more information.

The Mexican Ministry of Economy and Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks approved a project on January 24 to modify the mandatory “Official Mexican Standard NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010, General Labeling Specifications for Pre-packaged, Non-alcoholic Foodstuffs and Beverages” (NOM-051).

President Enrique Peña Nieto on June 14 signed into law certain amendments to articles 73 and 129 of the General Law of Mexican Companies, which has historically safeguarded the anonymity of stakeholders in Sociedades Anónimas (Mexican corporations) and Sociedades de Responsabilidad Limitada (Mexican limited liability companies). The weakening of anonymity resulting from these amendments could...

The Recent Focus on Corruption in Mexico - On July 19, 2017, the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities (GLAR) went into effect in Mexico, making it a “serious administrative offense” for individuals and companies to engage in bribery, collusion in public bid procedures, influence peddling, and misuse of public funds and resources. Sanctions for violations include significant fines,...

For companies with global operations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is no longer the only anticorruption law of significance. Mexico and Colombia recently enacted sweeping anti-corruption legislation aimed at ferreting out corruption at all levels of government. Both Mexico and Colombia have faced their fair share of political scandals, so these new comprehensive initiatives are...

The historic tender for shallow water blocks in the Gulf of Mexico will allow for private and foreign investment in Mexican oil and gas for the first time in almost 80 years. On July 15, Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) announced the results of the Round One first tender, culminating the first step of a bidding process that began in December 2014. The historic tender for...

Congress is required to enact secondary legislation to implement these reforms within one year. On May 27, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed into law constitutional reforms (the Reforms) designed to strengthen the existing anticorruption legislation in Mexico and to further empower the federal government to investigate, prosecute, and sanction corrupt activity in Mexico. The...

President Peña Nieto announces short-term plans for accelerating the reform’s implementation. On August 11, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced that federal legislation was enacted to implement the constitutional reform of the energy sector that was passed by the Mexican congress on December 16, 2013. In total, the president enacted nine new acts, including the much-awaited...

Mexico’s comprehensive energy reform advances and reflects lessons from the Brazilian experience. On April 30, the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto presented a package of much-anticipated bills to the Mexican Congress for secondary legislation with respect to Mexico’s energy reform (the Energy Reform), which opens the door to domestic and foreign private investment in Mexico’s

Companies with employees in Mexico should ensure their compensation packages comply with the new minimum wage requirements, which became effective January 1.

Minimum number of required state legislatures approves the much-anticipated reform; subsequent litigation imminent. Despite opposition from Mexico’s leftist parties, 17 of the 31 state legislatures—the minimum number required under the Mexican Constitution to clear the last hurdle of the constitutional reform process—have approved the proposed constitutional reform of the energy sector (the

Mexican Senate presents comprehensive Energy Reform Bill to the House of Representatives with tremendous potential for domestic and foreign energy companies. In an encouraging move toward energy reform, the Mexican Senate approved today and presented to the House of Representatives a bill—the combined effort of Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) and Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI)—wit

Mexico considers private investment in its nationalized oil and gas industry, with two competing proposals currently under review in its Congress.

Amendments address several legal loopholes and will substantially affect labor relationships in the country. During his last day in office, President Felipe de Jesús Calderón enacted a number of major amendments (the Labor Reform) to Mexico's Federal Labor Law (Ley Federal del Trabajo)(the FLL), which dates back to the 1970s. The Labor Reform had become a critical matter in Mexico's...

New law imposes heavy sanctions on individuals and companies offering money and gifts to obtain an advantage in the procurement of public contracts. Mexico has joined a growing number of Latin American countries that have enacted anti-corruption laws aimed at cracking down on public corruption...

Effective July 1, all E visa adjudications in Mexico will be centralized in three visa posts and all supporting documents must be presented in a standardized format.