On April 24, 2025, the Federal Executive sent to the Senate a draft decree to amend, add and repeal several provisions of the Federal Economic Competition Law (“LFCE” or Ley Federal de Competencia Económica) and the Federal Law of Parastatal Entities (the “LFEP” or Ley Federal de las Entidades Paraestatales) (the “Proposed Amendment”). The Proposed Amendment states that its objectives are to (i) amend the organizational structure and adjust the attributions for a new antitrust authority to be called the National Antitrust Commission (the “CNA” or Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio), (ii) strengthen the powers and improve proceedings to fight monopolies, and (iii) amend certain provisions regarding telecommunications and broadcasting.

The Proposed Amendment has yet to be discussed and approved by both chambers of the Mexican Congress. The following is a summary of the most relevant aspects of the Proposed Amendment:

1. Organizational Configuration and Functions of the CNA 

At the core of the Proposed Amendment is the elimination of the current Federal Economic Competition Commission (“COFECE”) and its replacement with the CNA, conceived as a decentralized public agency of the Ministry of Economy (Secretaría de Economía) with legal personality and its own assets, administrative autonomy and technical and operational independence in its decisions, organization and operation, which will also assume the functions that the Federal Telecommunications Institute (the “IFT”) has in competition matters in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors. Notwithstanding the proposed management autonomy and technical and operational independence to be provided to the CNA, the Proposed Amendment eliminates important powers that COFECE currently has to issue opinions on laws and initiatives of laws, regulations and preliminary drafts of regulations and administrative acts in general.

The Proposed Amendment contemplates that the CNA will have a governing body, also called Board of Commissioners (Pleno), composed of five commissioners (as opposed to the seven commissioners that currently make up COFECE’s Board). All commissioners would be appointed by the President of Mexico, subject to ratification by a majority vote of the Senate. The Proposed Amendment maintains the functional separation between the unit in charge of antitrust investigations and the Board of Commissioners of the new CNA, which will decide on the findings on the proceedings related to such investigations.

2. Revamped Powers and Sanctions 

In this regard, the Proposed Amendment addresses several key areas, including the following:

I. Increased powers of investigation

The Proposed Amendment seeks to strengthen the investigative tools to be made available to the CNA, empowering it to conduct inspections, market surveys and collect statistical data, in addition to providing mechanisms for international cooperation. The Proposed Amendment seeks to modify the Immunity Program (Programa de Inmunidad) and the Procedure for Waiver and Reduction of Fines (Procedimiento de Dispensa y Reducción de Multas).

For example, it is proposed that, prior to the initiation of the formal investigation, only the first economic agent that cooperates fully may benefit from full immunity, while those who cooperate at later stages would only be granted partial reductions in penalties. This differs from the current regime, in which full immunity only applies to the first economic agent to request it before a finding of probable liability is issued. Likewise, the procedural moments in which the waiver or reduction of fines may be requested are limited.

It is also proposed to amend Article 94 of the LFCE, with the purpose of making the investigation proceedings related to essential inputs and antitrust barriers more efficient and to speed up the issuance of resolutions, reducing applicable terms from 60 to 40 business days.

The Proposed Amendment incorporates proceedings that already existed, but not at the level of the current law, such as the “Procedure for Verification of Compliance with Obligations” (Procedimiento de Verificación de Cumplimiento de Obligaciones), which seeks to discourage the omission of merger notifications, and the “Procedure for Qualification of Information” (Procedimiento de Calificación de Información), which seeks to guarantee the adequate protection of communications safeguarded by professional secrecy.

II. Amendments relating to Absolute Monopolistic Practices and Relative Monopolistic Practices

In relation to absolute monopolistic practices (prácticas monopólicas absolutas), the Proposed Amendment seeks to eliminate the requirement set forth in the current Article 53 of proof of a prior agreement to sanction the exchange of information between competitors, so that the mere exchange of information could be sanctioned if the rest of the requirements set forth in said Article are met. In addition, the definition of such practices now refers to potential competitors and not only actual competitors. The Proposed Amendment also broadens the scope of relative monopolistic practices (prácticas monopólicas relativas) including, as an object or effect to establish a relative monopolistic practice in accordance with Article 54 of the LFCE, the unlawful limitation of the ability of other Economic Agents to compete in the markets. Finally, the maximum terms to investigate monopolistic practices are reduced from 600 business days to 480 business days.

III. Amendments relating to Concentrations

With respect to merger control, the Proposed Amendment extends from one to three years the term to investigate those transactions that, despite not being subject to merger control notification, may generate negative effects on competition. 

In addition, the economic thresholds and the percentage of accumulation of assets or shares to determine whether a transaction must obtain prior authorization from the CNA are reduced, as described in the table below, and the general maximum period for the CNA to issue a resolution regarding notified concentrations is also reduced from 60 to 30 business days.

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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.

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