MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Alejandro Mendiola Diaz, Pedro Isaac Alcalá Berhouague and Benjamín Uriel Salinas Morales, Nader, Hayaux & Goebel
• At the request of government bodies, such as the Ministry of Economy or the Consumer Protection Agency. • Ex officio, based on the agency’s own market monitoring or suspicions. • From information submitted through the Leni - ency Programme. To open a case, the authority must identify an objective cause – a preliminary indication of car - tel conduct (eg, price alignment or suspicious co-ordination). Once initiated, the agency has 30–120 business days, extendable up to four times, to investigate confidentially. During the first period, an initial ruling is published in the Federal Official Gazette, describing the relevant market and conduct under review, but not the parties. If sufficient evidence is found, the agency issues a Statement of Probable Liability and begins a tri - al-like procedure. The accused have 45 business days to respond and offer evidence, followed by testimonial or expert submissions, closing argu - ments, and a hearing before the Board of Com - missioners. The Board then decides whether to confirm liability or dismiss the case for lack of evidence. 2.2 Dawn Raids/Search Warrants Dawn raids are a common enforcement tool in cartel investigations by COFECE and IFT and may occur even before the case is formally opened. Entities must fully co-operate; obstruc - tion can trigger enforcement measures and, if supported by other evidence, lead to a pre - sumption that the alleged facts are true. Inspectors may access offices, devices, emails, and files, take photos or videos, and copy phys - ical or digital documents – except those pro -
tected by attorney–client privilege. They cannot seize originals. Company staff must assist by identifying relevant areas, providing requested documents, and answering questions. Two wit - nesses appointed by the firm must sign the offi - cial minutes, which may also include objections or comments. Procedural Framework Dawn raids must follow a formal process. • The agency must issue a written order speci - fying the purpose, scope, duration, and target of the visit. • The order must warn the visited party of the consequences of non-cooperation. • Inspections may occur during business hours, but authorisation can be granted for visits on non-business days or outside working hours. • Raids may be conducted simultaneously at multiple locations. • Company officers, employees, or representa - tives may be asked to provide explanations, which will be recorded in the official minutes. • The entire visit must be documented in an official record, signed by the agency officers and the two appointed witnesses. The maximum legal duration of a dawn raid is two months, which may be extended once for an additional two months. However, in practice, the authority conducts continuous, uninterrupted visits, meaning that most dawn raids last any - where from a few hours to several consecutive days, during which the inspection team system - atically reviews documents and extracts infor - mation relevant to the investigation. At the end of the dawn raid, the visited com - pany receives an official record which includes details of the visit, the information extracted, any relevant notes on the chain of custody, and the
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