On June 30, 2025, the Mexican legislative branch approved the decree that amends, adds, and repeals various provisions of the Federal Economic Competition Law (the Reform). The decree is expected to take effect in the coming days, once it is published in the Federal Official Gazette.

The Reform focuses on four main subjects:
 

The decree creates a new National Antitrust Commission, classified as a decentralized government body, which will have legal personhood, management autonomy, and technical and operational independence.

The commission will include a board composed of five commissioners appointed on a staggered basis by the head of the federal executive and ratified by the Senate. The decree maintains the separation between investigation and enforcement functions.
 

The Reform strengthens investigations and enforcement tools to combat horizontal and vertical monopolistic practices and unlawful mergers. Key measures include:

• Absolute Monopolistic Practices (Cartels): The Reform amends Article 53 of the law to sanction anticompetitive information exchanges, even without a prior agreement.
   
• Vertical Monopolistic Practices: More detailed criteria are set forth to identify whether economic agents jointly have the ability to set prices or restrict supply in ways that other agents cannot counteract. Additionally, the conduct affecting competitive conditions in the relevant market or related markets is now included as a harm theory.
   
• Unlawful Mergers: The Reform extends the statute of limitations for investigating unlawful mergers from one to three years. This is especially relevant in digital markets, where acquisitions may be complex and difficult to trace.
   
• Collective and Individual Actions: The Reform clarifies that collective and individual actions may be brought once the administrative resolution is final, even if a constitutional appeal has not yet been resolved.
   
• Leniency and Fine Reduction Programs: The Reform modifies deadlines and benefits to encourage early cooperation. Notably, the commission will not initiate collective actions against parties that cooperate in a timely manner. To obtain 100% of the benefit, the cooperation request must be submitted before the investigation begins; if submitted after, the maximum benefit will be a 50% reduction.
   
• Early Closure of Cases Involving Relative Monopolistic Practices and Unlawful Mergers: Commitments to close the investigation without sanctions may only be submitted before the investigation period is extended for the third time. Thereafter, such commitments can only be submitted during the formal trial stage, and in that case, only a fine reduction of up to 50% may be granted.
   
• Sanctions and Enforcement Measures: The Reform strengthens enforcement tools and penalties.

For example, the Reform increases fines for the obstruction of dawn raids ($22,628,000 pesos) and for failure to cooperate in hearings ($3,394,200 pesos).

It also adjusts economic sanctions to be proportional to the damage caused. Some examples include penalties of up to 15% of an economic agent’s income for absolute monopolistic practices (cartels); 10% for committing vertical monopolistic practices or unlawful mergers; and up to 8% for closing a transaction without obtaining authorization from the authority when required.

Penalties could also include temporary disqualification from participating in public procurement procedures for a period of six months to five years when there is collusion or coordination in public bids (absolute monopolistic practice).
 

The Reform updates regulatory references and elevates various regulatory provisions and provisions of the Organizational Statute of the former COFECE to the status of law. The main adjustments include the following:

Verification and Qualification Procedures

The Reform transfers to law the Procedure for Verification of Compliance with Obligations, which seeks to deter economic agents from failing to notify transactions that may affect competition. This procedure will enable the National Antitrust Commission to verify that companies comply with their legal obligations, preventing concentrations from taking place without prior supervision, which could lead to anticompetitive effects.

Likewise, the Reform elevates the Qualification Procedure to the status of law. This procedure refers to information that is qualified as privileged and thus excluded from the public docket (only applicable to external attorneys). This guarantees the protection of confidential information and strengthens the legal certainty of economic agents, while ensuring that investigations are conducted fairly and transparently.

Strengthened Investigative Faculties

The Reform seeks to improve merger investigation and notification procedures, with the aim of making them clearer, faster, and more effective. The improvements include the following:

• Enhanced investigations: The Investigative Authority is provided with additional tools, such as inspection proceedings, surveys, and data collection through any means, to gather relevant information. This will allow for the timely identification of practices contrary to competition
   
• Pre-merger control: The monetary thresholds for reporting transactions have been lowered (the lowest threshold is now $837,236,000 in accumulated assets). See our recent GT Alert on changes to merger control procedures.

Transparency

The Reform reinforces the principle of transparency by requiring the publication of verbatim transcripts of the National Antitrust Commission’s plenary session.

Furthermore, plenary resolutions must be drafted in plain language, facilitating their understanding by consumers and economic agents.

Other Relevant Modifications

• The commission may certify compliance programs implemented by companies to prevent and detect potential violations of the law, valid for a period of three years.
   
• The law does not apply to activities carried out by state-owned companies.
   
• The procedure for imposing maximum prices on goods and services does not apply to activities provided for in the Carbon-Based Fuels Sector Law.
   
• The executive branch may indicate economic matters it considers relevant, which could, for example, prevent extensions of deadlines in complex merger cases.

The Reform includes provisions to determine the existence of dominant economic agents and to impose and review measures necessary to prevent them from affecting competition.

It also contains provisions on measures that may be imposed when broadcasting and telecommunications licensees serve the same market or geographical coverage area which, according to the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, prevents or restricts access to diverse information.

Overall Impact

The Reform aims to implement an enhanced legal framework to combat anticompetitive practices, strengthen the state’s role in the economy, and ensure fairer and more competitive markets.

The National Antitrust Commission will begin operations once its first plenary is formed. The appointment process will begin with the publication of the Reform decree, and the plenary is expected to form in mid-July 2025.

Given the increase in the new authority’s sanctioning power and the anticipated regulatory changes, companies should consider implementing economic competition compliance programs in order to reduce the risks of non-compliance and possible sanctions.