MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Carlos de la Garza, Raúl Acosta and Enrique Tamez, De la Garza & Acosta Abogados, S.C.
institutions subject to sanctions regimes outside Mexico. Foreign sanctions do not necessarily operate auto- matically as Mexican law. Nevertheless, they may create practical barriers to payment where a transac- tion involves a sanctioned person, jurisdiction, cur- rency or financial intermediary. Mexican insurers are also subject to anti-money laundering and counter- terrorist financing requirements, including mecha- nisms to identify persons appearing on the Ministry of Finance’s List of Blocked Persons. That framework incorporates, among others, designations arising from United Nations Security Council resolutions. Coverage and Claims Handling These circumstances may require insurers to conduct additional compliance checks before making a pay- ment and, in appropriate cases, to suspend or restrict transactions. Particular complexity can arise where coverage exists under the policy but payment can- not readily be processed because a reinsurer, bank or other intermediary is subject to different sanctions requirements. To date, these issues have had a greater impact on claims administration and cross-border payment mechanics than on the substantive interpretation of insurance coverage in Mexican courts. 7.3 War, Political Risk and Exclusions Current Position War, terrorism and political-risk exclusions are com- monly included in Mexican property, motor, marine and other commercial insurance policies. Depending on the wording, exclusions may extend to declared or undeclared war, civil war, insurrection, rebellion, ter- rorism, expropriation, requisition or confiscation. Despite recent global conflicts, there is not yet a sig- nificant body of reported Mexican coverage litigation testing these exclusions. Their impact has so far been more evident in underwriting, territorial risk assess- ment and reinsurance than in domestic court disputes. Interpretation and Emerging Uncertainty If such disputes arise, the precise wording and cau- sation of the loss will be critical. Particular difficulty
may arise in distinguishing terrorism, insurrection or political violence from ordinary criminal activity, civil disturbance or other forms of organised violence. The seriousness of an event alone should not necessar- ily determine whether a war or terrorism exclusion applies. As with other exclusions, insurers must ensure that these provisions are clearly drafted and properly incorporated into the insurance contract. Recent geopolitical events may also lead insurers and rein- surers to review territorial restrictions, accumulation exposure and the availability of specific political-risk or terrorism coverage, particularly for insureds with international operations. 7.4 Supply Chain and Systemic Loss Events Geopolitical disruptions and supply-chain instability have not yet given rise to clearly identifiable new cat- egories of insured losses or significant aggregation liti- gation in Mexico. Their impact has been more evident in underwriting, risk assessment and business con- tinuity planning than in reported coverage disputes. Supply-chain disruption, energy-price volatility and interruptions affecting international trade may nev- ertheless increase claims under marine, cargo and business interruption policies. Coverage will gener- ally depend on the particular policy wording, including causation requirements and whether physical damage or another specified insured event is required to trig- ger coverage. Systemic events may also increase aggregation expo- sure where a single disruption affects multiple insured locations, suppliers or counterparties. To date, how- ever, these issues remain more relevant to insurers’ and reinsurers’ accumulation and underwriting strate- gies than as a distinct source of Mexican insurance litigation. 7.5 Forward Outlook and Market Response Underwriting and Policy Response Over the next 12–18 months, geopolitical uncertainty is likely to affect Mexican insurers primarily through underwriting rather than litigation, particularly in con- nection with Mexico’s trade relationship with the Unit- ed States and continuing USMCA discussions.
188 I NSURANCE L I T IGATI O N 2026
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