Inclusion of the guarantee of hearing of the persons included in the list of blocked persons of the Law of Credit Institutions

Printable version | March 2022

• The Law of Credit Institutions establishes that the SHCP must submit to the banking institutions a list of blocked persons to prevent and detect acts, omissions, and operations regarding the financing of terrorism.
• People included in the list of blocked persons may assert their rights through the Hearing Guarantee procedure before the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

The Credit Institutions Law is the legal instrument that regulates the banking and credit service, as well as the activities and operations that can be carried out, the protection of public interests, and the terms in which the State will exercise the financial stewardship of the Mexican Banking System.

Article 115 of said Law establishes that the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit must submit to banking institutions a list of blocked persons to prevent and detect acts, omissions, and operations that could be classified as crimes in the matter of terrorist financing.

Modifications to the Credit Institutions Law

On March 11, 2022, the General Congress of the United Mexican States published the “Decree that reforms the name of the Fifth Title and adds a Chapter V to the Fifth Title of the Credit Institutions Law”.

Through this Decree, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, in the exercise of its powers, may introduce a person to the list when it has sufficient evidence that it is related to:

• Terrorist financing crimes
• Operations with resources of illicit origin
• Activities associated with the above offenses

Inclusion of Audience Guarantee

Persons included in the list of blocked persons may assert their rights through the following procedure before the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU):

• The authority will inform the individual of the reasons why he is being included in the list of blocked persons.
• If the individual has exercised his right to a hearing with the corresponding authority, he will have to request it within five days after the initial notification.
• Once the above has been done, he will be granted ten business days, following the notification of the credit institution, to offer evidence and formulate arguments in his defense.
• The FIU, ex officio or at the request of a party, may extend the term to present statements, evidence, and allegations for a single occasion up to the same period.
• Once the term for the interested party to respond has elapsed, the FIU will have a period of fifteen working days from the date on which the file is integrated to issue the administrative resolution justifying and motivating the inclusion or elimination of the person in the list.
• The resolution will be notified to the interested party by official letter within ten days following its issuance. The interested party may challenge the resolution in terms of the Federal Law of Administrative Procedure.

When the inclusion of a person to the list of blocked persons of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit is due to a resolution of the United Nations Security Council, the disincorporation process is stipulated by the Committee by which inclusion has been designated.

We consider that within the procedure there are certain violations of the right to legal certainty recognized in the Federal Constitution, which could be asserted through the corresponding means of challenge if it is included in the List.

If you require additional information, please contact the responsible partner for your affairs or one of the lawyers mentioned below:

Mexico City Office

Lic. Juan Carlos Machorro G. (Partner) jmachorro@s-s.mx

Dr. Sergio Chagoya D. (Partner) schagoya@s-s.mx

Lic. Mariano Calderón V., (Partner) mcalderon@s-s.mx

Lic. Diego Ostos G., (Partner) dostos@s-s.mx

Tel: +52 55 5279-5400

Monterrey Office

Lic. Juan Carlos de la Vega G. (Partner) jdelavega@s-s.mx

Tel: +52 81 8133-6000

Queretaro Office

Lic. José Ramón Ayala A. (Partner) jayala@s-s.mx

Tel: +52 442 290-0290