MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Luis Álvarez Cervantes, Adolfo Athié Cervantes, Alejandro Barrera, Jesús Colunga, Eduardo Kleinberg, Juan José López de Silanes, Carlos Martínez-Betanzos and Amílcar Peredo, Basham, Ringe y Correa S.C.
9. Looking Forward 9.1 Upcoming Legal Reforms
Reform to the Mexican Antitrust Law In July 2025, the Mexican Congress approved a com - prehensive reform of the antitrust legal framework in Mexico, including, among others: (i) the creation of the National Antitrust Commission (CNA), which for - mally began acting in October 2025, (ii) the confir - mation and appointment of new commissioners, (iii) lowering thresholds for merger notification, (iv) the recognition of compliance programs as mitigating fac - tors, (v) the establishment of a procedure to protect attorney-client communications, and (vi) the increase of certain sanctions, including higher maximum fines for absolute monopolistic practices, relative monopo - listic practices, unlawful concentrations, unauthorised concentrations and failure to notify reportable trans - actions. Proceedings initiated before the former Federal Eco - nomic Competition Commission (COFECE) and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), limited to matters of economic competition, preponderance and cross-ownership, other than the investigations con - ducted by the investigative authority, will continue to be heard under the legislation in force at the time of their initiation. This includes, among others, trial-like proceedings, merger notifications and review proce - dures. In addition, on 19 December 2025, a new tariff regime for merger filings was enacted. Under this regime, filing fees are determined based on the estimated maximum transaction value in Mexico and range from MXN882,158 to MXN6,015,098, excluding VAT. Reform to the Mexican Intellectual Property Law In April 2026 a decree was published amending the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property. Key changes include the following. • Faster deadlines for IMPI decisions – the reform sets maximum timeframes for IMPI to resolve applications and proceedings, including patents, trade marks and geographical indications, reducing delays and improving certainty for applicants. • New types of trade marks, including: (a) position marks
The following upcoming legal reforms should be con - sidered by foreign nationals concerning their invest - ments and business in Mexico. Reform to the Judiciary President Sheinbaum’s reform to the judiciary was enacted in September 2024, and the first round of elections for Supreme Court justices, federal and state court judges and magistrates took place in June 2025. The public participation for this first round of elections was very low – between 12–13% of the List of Regis - tered Voters, nationwide, and it is expected that the second round of elections (scheduled for the summer of 2027) will have a similar result. Considering this, there is a legitimacy issue surrounding the results of the elections. The full impact of the reform remains to be seen; however, parties are already responding by favour - ing arbitration clauses over choice of court provisions to avoid the uncertainty of litigating before domestic courts. Electoral Reform On 26 March 2026, President Sheinbaum presented to the Mexican Congress her second attempt of the new electoral reform project, which was approved in its majority by the Mexican Congress and the majority of the Mexican states in April 2026, and is scheduled to be published in the coming days. The reform amends Articles 115, 116 and 134 of the Mexican Constitution. Key changes include: (i) a 15% reduction of the INE’s budget for local electoral cam - paigns; (ii) reduction of pensions for senior govern - ment officials so they do not exceed the President’s; (iii) reduction of officials in local municipalities; and (iv) stricter limits to prevent nepotism and indefinite tenure within electoral bodies. The electoral reform is expected to be published imminently.
(b) motion marks; and (c) multimedia marks.
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