MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Lizette Neme, Andrea López-Malo, Shannon Reilly, Rodolfo Flores and Dunia Salum, Áurea Partners
2.13 Conjunction of Unregulated and Regulated Products and Services In Mexico, it is common for industry participants (par - ticularly in the fintech sector) to offer a combination of regulated and unregulated products or services, especially where technology, data, analytics, or user- facing tools complement regulated financial activities. Regulated financial institutions are subject to strict activity catalogues and may only provide services expressly authorised under their licence. As a result, these entities cannot directly provide unregulated ser - vices. To address this limitation, market participants typically structure their operations through separate legal enti - ties: one to carry out regulated financial activities (eg, offering payment accounts or securities trading), and other providing auxiliary services. This separation is designed to prevent regulatory arbi - trage and to ensure that unregulated activities do not bypass or compromise the prudential requirements applicable to the regulated entities. Although the services are often presented to custom - ers through a single digital interface or platform, the underlying operations remain legally and technologi - cally separated. Mexican authorities require strict transparency when regulated and unregulated services are offered under the same platform or brand. Providers must clearly disclose which legal entity is responsible for each service, which regulatory protections apply, and the appropriate channels for customer complaints. 2.14 Impact of AML and Sanctions Rules AML/CFT compliance is a critical priority for both reg - ulated and unregulated fintechs, driven by heightening global scrutiny and aggressive enforcement, such as the recent US designation of Mexican cartels as ter - rorist organisations (FTOs). Recent actions and alerts issued by FinCEN have increased the focus on sanctions and cross-border risk. See 1.1 Evolution of the Fintech Market and 2.10 Significant Enforcement Actions .
2.15 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards Mexico’s AML and sanctions rules generally follow the standards imposed by the FATF, of which Mexico is a full member. FATF recommendations on risk-based supervision, KYC, suspicious transaction reporting, and record-keeping, among others, are included in Mexican regulations. 2.16 Reverse Solicitation Mexican financial laws and regulations prohibit, in general, non-Mexican-licensed institutions from engaging in any active solicitation activities tending to or promoting the offering of financial services or products within Mexico. Nevertheless, Mexican law does not prohibit foreign entities from providing financial services to Mexicans, as long as they operate under a reverse solicitation scheme with clear boundaries. 3. Robo-Advisers 3.1 Requirement for Different Business Models In Mexico, different assets classes require different business models. • Virtual assets are regulated under the Fintech Law and the secondary regulation issued by Banxico. These must operate as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). For regulated fintechs (under Fintech Law), Banxico currently restricts offer - ing these directly to the public, requiring a model where cryptocurrency is used only for internal or back-office operations. Non-regulated entities must comply with AML Law due to the high-risk nature of their activities. • Security tokens may be subject to traditional securities under the Securities Market Law. Con - sequently, their business models must incorporate a broker-dealer or authorised investment advisor structure. These models must satisfy disclosure requirements, ensuring that automated algorithms, often used in crypto-trading, are transparent about risk volatility and liquidity constraints.
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