On February 18, 2025, an initiative with a draft decree to issue the Federal Antimonopoly and Competition Law (the “Initiative of the LFACE”)(1) was published in the Parliamentary Gazette of the Chamber of Deputies, which would replace the current Federal Economic Competition Law (“LFCE” or Ley Federal de Competencia Económica). Congressman Alfonso Ramírez Cuéllar, from the Morena Parliamentary Group, submitted for the consideration of the Chamber of Deputies such initiative, which still needs to be discussed and approved by both Chambers of the Mexican Congress. Below, please find a summary of relevant aspects of the Initiative of the LFACE: 

1.Nature and structure of the New Regulatory Agency. 

The Initiative of the LFACE proposes the creation of the National Agency for Competition and Economic Welfare (the “Agency” or Agencia Nacional para la Competencia y el Bienestar Económico), an organism that would replace the Federal Economic Competition Commission (“COFECE” or Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica) and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (“IFT” or Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones), implementing the constitutional reform approved by the Mexican Congress on November 28, 2024. In this respect, the Initiative of the LFACE contemplates unifying the functions in matters of competition in a single authority, including within its jurisdiction telecommunications and radio broadcasting, which are currently matters of exclusive jurisdiction of the IFT. 

The Agency would constitute a public decentralized organism, with its own legal personality and patrimony, endowed with technical and operational independence in its decisions, organization and functioning, as well as professional and impartial in its actions. The Initiative of the LFACE sets out that the Agency’s institutional work program would need to be consistent with the objectives, strategies and priorities of the National Development Plan (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo) and the applicable sectoral programs. 

The new Agency would maintain the separation between the Antitrust Prosecutor’s Office –the body in charge of the investigation currently called the Investigating Authority– and the Board of Commissioners (Pleno) –the governing and resolution body. The Board of Commissioners (Pleno) of the Agency would be composed of five commissioners, as opposed to the seven that currently make up the Board of Commissioners of COFECE. The Initiative of the LFACE also contains new criteria and procedures for the selection of commissioners. 

2.Telecommunications and Radio Broadcasting. 

The Initiative of the LFACE seeks to incorporate into the Agency’s powers and attributes all economic competition matters related to the telecommunications and radio broadcasting industries.

3.Changes in the Thresholds for the Notification of Concentrations. 

The Initiative of the LFACE proposes a reduction of the amounts contemplated in the statutory merger control thresholds to determine if a transaction requires prior authorization from the Agency and contemplates an entirely new threshold related to collaboration agreements, as described below: 


Thresholds |  Section I

Art. 86 LFCE  | 18 millionUMAs: MXN$2,036,520,000 / US$100,405,265

Art. 92 Initiative of the LFACE | 14 million UMAs: MXN$1,583,960,000 / US$78,092,984


Thresholds |  Section II

Art. 86 LFCE  | 18 million UMAs: MXN$2,036,520,000 / US$100,405,265

Art. 92 Initiative of the LFACE | 14 million UMAs: MXN$1,583,960,000 / US$78,092,984


Thresholds |  Section III First Part

Art. 86 LFCE  | 8.4 million UMAs: MXN$950,376,000 / US$46,855,790

Art. 92 Initiative of the LFACE | 5 million UMAs: MXN$565,700,000 / US$27,890,352

Thresholds | Section III Second Par.

Art. 86 LFCE  | 48 million UMAs: MXN$5,430,720,000 / US$267,747,374

Art. 92 Initiative of the LFACE | 40 million UMAs: MXN$4,525,600,000 / US$223,122,812


Thresholds | New Threshold

When the originating act or succession of acts constitute a collaboration agreement in which two or more Economic Agents participate whose annual sales originated in the national territory or assets in the national territory jointly or separately, amount, directly or indirectly, to more than 14,000,000 UMAs.

Art. 92 Initiative of the LFACE | 14 million UMAs: MXN$1,583,960,000 / US$78,092,984


4.Coercive measures, fines and sanctions. 

The Initiative of the LFACE proposes to significantly increase the amount and the basis for calculation of most of the coercive measures, fines and sanctions that are established in the current LFCA and proposes to incorporate new categories of fines. Regarding the basis for calculation of fines, the references to the percentage of the economic agents’ income are expanded so that they would apply instead by reference to the income of the economic interest group (“GIE” or grupos de interés económico) to which the fined economic agent belongs. 

As an example, the commission of absolute monopolistic practices (prácticas monopólicas absolutas) would entail fines of up to the equivalent of 20% of the total income of the GIE to which the fined economic agent belongs (compared to 10% of the income of the such economic agent as currently regulated in the LFCE), the commission of relative monopolistic practices (prácticas monopólicas relativas) and illicit concentrations would entail fines for the equivalent of up to 10% of the total income of the GIE (as opposed to 8% of the income of the economic agent as currently established) and the consummation of a transaction without obtaining the prior approval of the Agency when legally required would entail fines of up to 8% of the total income of the GIE (instead of 5% of the income of the economic agent as currently established in the LFCE). 

5.Procedures and deadlines for investigation and resolution of the Agency. 

Other than the significant changes described in the previous points, the Initiative of the LFAC takes up much of the wording of the LFCE and maintains most of the procedures established under current law. However, various deadlines are reduced to expedite certain processes and, more relevantly, the maximum period of investigation for monopolistic practices, either by collusive agreements or by abuse of dominant position (i.e., respectively, “absolute monopolistic practices” and “relative monopolistic practices” in the LFCE), is reduced from 600 days to 480 days in total.

6.Transitional regime. 

The Initiative of the LFAC establishes, in its transitory articles, that the LFCA, if approved in its terms, would enter into force 60 calendar days after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation. The LFCE would be repealed but the proceedings in progress at the entry into force of the LFAC would be substantiated in accordance with the provisions in force at the time of the initiation of such procedures. Likewise, within a period not exceeding six months from the entry into force of the LFAC, the Federal Executive would be required to issue the Regulations to the LFAC. Upon the LFAC becoming law, it is expected that COFECE’s organizational structure and professional staff, as well as its financial and material resources, would be the basis for the creation and operation of the new Agency. 

Ritch Mueller has extensive experience in competition and antitrust matters, with a team of professionals available to provide advice to economic agents with ongoing proceedings before COFECE and IFT that may be impacted by the Initiative of LFAC and with new proceedings to be initiated before the new Agency. 

If you require additional information, please contact Octavio Olivo Villa ([email protected]) or James E. Ritch ([email protected]), leaders of the competition and antitrust practice area of Ritch Mueller.

Visit our site www.ritch.com.mx or reach us at (+52) 55 9178 7000 | [email protected]


(1) Please see: https://gaceta.diputados.gob.mx/PDF/66/2025/feb/20250218-II-1-1.pdf