The year's highlights
Among the many lessons that the pandemic is leaving us, in addition to an economic crisis and various legislative nonsense, is the growing interest in promoting and defending the exercise and rule of law.
We began 2021 in an environment of pressure that led to strikes that had not been seen for several years. The press closely followed these events to ensure that legal avenues for resolving these disputes were respected. On the other hand, Mexico's commitment to the USMCA led us to reduce the historical gap in minimum wages.
At the same time, we reviewed the dangerous aspects of the initiatives to reform the Bank of Mexico Law, which established legal bases for money laundering and put its autonomy at risk, and with it, the country's financial stability.
On the business side, we saw the arrival of a scenario of mergers and acquisitions that injected foreign currency into the Mexican economy. We attended various forums to combat stigmas that prevent the development of promising industries, such as cannabis, which has faced late, defective and confusing regulatory initiatives.
Our labor lawyers have been very busy analyzing initiatives and advising key industries. The law that now prohibits insourcing and outsourcing in Mexico was drawn up throughout the year with much tension. The changes curbed the bad practices of some companies, but also ended up eliminating some good practices and, in doing so, reduced the country's competitiveness at the worst possible time.
The restructurings, bankruptcy proceedings and bankruptcies of companies would soon come to light. We made it clear to the productive society that the Mexican bankruptcy law is a strategy that protects companies, as in other parts of the world. Its purpose is the survival of companies, to retain the majority of employees and the supplier roster, and to create a new relationship with creditors. The largest companies in the world have resorted to these legal resources to change their skin and are now healthier and stronger. We also noted throughout the year that the number of judges rejecting requests for bankruptcy proceedings has increased dramatically, mainly due to a lack of training and resources. Specialized courts are urgently needed.
In 2021, it was expected that an environment of non-compliance and controversies would prevail, which saturated the courts, which in themselves reduced their operations due to the health provisions imposed by the pandemic. At this point, we have insisted a lot on spreading the message that there are alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADRs), which are very effective, expeditious and provide options to place disputes in the hands of experts in the corresponding industry. They are effective even in acting at the first outbreak of conflict between companies and thus prevent cases from growing and becoming bogged down in lengthy processes in which time and a lot of money are lost.
