April 8, 2026
In recent days, two highly relevant developments have occurred in Mexico’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system.
On the one hand, the Supreme Court (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación) solved the Action of Unconstitutionality 58/2022, as well as various related amparo proceedings, confirming the constitutionality of the account-blocking scheme provided for in the Law of Credit Institutions (Ley de Instituciones de Crédito).
The Court determined that the authority of the Intelligence Financial Unit (Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera) (the AML Agency) to include individuals in the blocked persons list and to order the freezing of accounts:
(i) constitutes a precautionary measure of an administrative nature,
(ii) does not have a punitive or criminal nature,
(iii) may be exercised based on sufficient indicia, and
(iv) must respect the guarantees of hearing, defense, and access to means of challenge.
On the other hand, on March 27, 2026, the decree amending the Regulations of the applicable Law was published, and it entered into force on March 28.
Among the most relevant aspects of the Regulations are the following:
- The incorporation of a specific regime for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) (Personas Políticamente Expuestas), including mechanisms for the integration and consultation of lists
- The strengthening of the supervisory and sanctioning powers of the tax agency, as well as new powers granted to the Intelligence Financial Unit
- New rules on the aggregation of transactions and the obligation to file 24-hour reports, even in cases of attempted transactions
- The incorporation of internal or external audit obligations and documentation for remediation
- The possibility for the authority to substantiate its resolutions based on information from official databases
It is important to note that the issuance of general rules, which must complete the implementation of the new regulatory framework, is still pending.
Taken together, these developments reflect a consolidation of the new preventive approach of the Mexican AML/CFT system, strengthening the supervisory and response tools of the authorities, while also clarifying the scope of due process in the administrative sphere.
Our team remains at your disposal to analyze the impact of these changes on your operations and to support the implementation of compliance measures.
Sincerely,
Diana Rangel León
drangel@basham.com.mx
Daniela Pineda Robles
dpineda@basham.com.mx
Maria Regina Sotelo Ocejo
rsotelo@basham.com.mx
Ricardo Antonio Tagle Pastén
rtagle@basham.com.mx