MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Ricardo García Giorgana, Carlos Chavez Alanis and Xavier Careaga Franco, Galicia Abogados
1. Digital Economy 1.1 Key Challenges General Overview
incorporated USMCA provisions into its statu - tory framework, the Supreme Court has upheld their direct application through case law, allow - ing their enforcement without formal domestic legislation. Fintech The 2018 Fintech Act regulates two types of institutions and two business models. The first category of institution includes electronic pay - ment fund institutions (EPFIs; instituciones de fondo de pago electrónico or IFPEs) and invest - ment fund companies (IFCs), which require authorisation from both the National Banking and Securities Commission ( Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores ; CNBV) and the Bank of Mexico ( Banxico ). Approval is granted by an inter-institutional committee involving the Minis - try of Finance ( Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público ; SHCP), CNBV and Banxico . EPFIs can manage electronic payment accounts, partici - pate in payment networks, facilitate fund trans - fers and handle national and foreign currencies. Virtual asset operations are limited to internal purposes, with strict segregation from client resources and prior Banxico approval. The second type of institution is the collective funding institution (CFI), or crowdfunding plat - form, which intermediates between investors and funding applicants and offers debt, equity and co-ownership or royalty-based financing. Royalty financing refers to sharing profits or losses from projects, not intellectual property (IP) rights. The Fintech Act also regulates virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies, defining them as electronically registered value representations used for electronically transferable payments. Their use is subject to guidelines such as Circu - lar 4/2018 and Comisión Nacional para la Pro-
E-commerce and the digital economy in Mexico are regulated through general laws, including the Civil Code, Commercial Code and Con - sumer Protection Law, rather than through spe - cific e-commerce legislation. These regulations are designed to be technology-neutral, though amendments sometimes address digital-specif - ic matters. There is no overarching framework solely governing e-commerce activities. Local e-Commerce Regulation In 2018, the Mexican government introduced voluntary guidelines (NMX-COE-001-SCFI) for businesses operating digital platforms to pro - mote or sell goods and services. These guide - lines set standards for advertising transparency, online transaction security, cross-border com - merce and consumer protection. Notably, they clarify the roles and liabilities of digital platforms versus sellers, with platforms generally being held accountable only for their specified activi - ties. Efforts to convert these guidelines into binding Mexican Official Standards (Normas Oficial Mex - icana ; NOMs) began in late 2024. This process aims to ensure enforceable compliance, with implementation anticipated in 2025. USMCA The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) modernises e-commerce regulation under Chapter 19, addressing digital trade, cybersecurity, algorithms and intermediary liabil - ity. It prohibits customs duties on digital prod - ucts, promotes privacy and consumer protection and ensures safe harbour provisions for inter - mediaries. Although Mexico has not formally
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