Mexico

New Documents

FATF Releases Third Follow-up Report on Mexico

The Financial Action Task Force published a third enhanced follow-up report on Mexico, which re-rates the nation on five FATF recommendations.

June 16, 2021

DOJ Dismisses Money Laundering, Drug Charges Against Former Mexican Defense Official

U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr and Fiscalía General of Mexico Alejandro Gertz Manero issued a joint statement on the dismissal of charges against former Mexican Secretary of National Defense General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, who was charged with money laundering and drug distribution.

November 18, 2020

Egmont Group, Mexico Postpone July 2020 Plenary Meeting

April 8, 2020

Mexican FIU Issues COVID-19 Notice (in Spanish)

April 7, 2020

Mexico Issues Arrest Warrant Against Former Public Official (in Spanish)

April 2, 2020

News

Weekly Roundup: Brooklyn Plaintiffs Sue Global Banks, US Officials Repatriate $452 Million to Malaysia, and More

OFSI penalizes money transfer company, U.S. prosecutors charge Syrian national with bribery, and more, in the weekly roundup.

August 6, 2021

Weekly Roundup: US Brokerages Caught in Blatant AML Lapses, Las Vegas Sands Investigates Singapore Branch, and More

New York state regulators plan to issue legal marijuana-related guidance, EY agrees to pay whistleblower, and more, in the weekly roundup.

March 31, 2021

Midweek Roundup: France Fines ING, FinCEN Seeks Budget Increase, and More

March 3, 2021

Midweek Roundup: Supreme Court Upholds Trump Subpoena, EU Issues 4AMLD Warning, and More

February 24, 2021

Weekly Roundup: Mexican FIU Ordered to Justify Account Freezes, Crown Resorts Executive Pledges Compliance Overhaul, and More

February 19, 2021

Enforcement Actions

0 Items Found

Key Documents

Mexico Places Controls on Large Cash Transactions Related to Real Estate, Car Purchases (in Spanish)

October 17, 2012

Mexico Updates Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing Portions of Criminal Code (in Spanish)

June 14, 2012

Mexico Publishes National AML Strategy (in Spanish)

August 26, 2010

Mexico Prohibits U.S. Cash Deposits Over $4,000 per Month (in Spanish)

June 16, 2010

Mexico Issues Customer Identification Requirements for Banks (in Spanish)

May 25, 2010

Mexico Establishes AML Requirements for Money Remitters (in Spanish)

August 3, 2011

Mexico Places AML Controls on Brokerage Houses, Stock Market (in Spanish)

May 6, 2009

Mexico: Popular Savings and Loan Companies Must Abide by AML Rules (in Spanish)

August 13, 2009

Insurance Companies Must Detect and Prevent Money Laundering, Orders Mexican Government (in Spanish)

June 20, 2008

Important Facts

  • The U.S. State Department labels Mexico as a major money laundering country. Illicit actors launder billions of dollars of drug trafficking proceeds through the Mexican financial system annually. Illicit drug proceeds leaving the United States are the principal sources of funds laundered through the Mexican financial system. Corruption, bulk cash smuggling, kidnapping, extortion, fuel theft, intellectual property rights violations, fraud, human smuggling, and trafficking in persons and firearms serve as sources of additional funds laundered through Mexico. Money laundering through the luxury real estate sector remains a concern, especially as a vehicle for laundering the proceeds of public corruption. Popular laundering methods include: the use of dollar-denominated illicit proceeds to purchase retail items for export and resale in Mexico or the U.S. and routing the revenues from the sales to transnational criminal organizations; investment in financial and real estate assets such as property and luxury items, particularly with respect to proceeds laundered due to public corruption; structure deposits where cash deposits into accounts in the U.S. are funneled into a single account and wire to Mexico; and use of unlicensed exchange houses to funnel narcotics-related proceeds. A legislation passed in 2019 expands predicate offenses of money laundering and makes asset forfeiture proceedings independent from any related criminal proceeding. In 2020, federal prosecutors filed the country's first three asset forfeiture complaints.
-Source: 2021 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)

Rankings

FATF i | 2013

Technical Effectiveness
Compliant : 8 High : 0
Largely Compliant : 22 Substantial : 4
Partially Compliant : 9 Moderate : 4
Non-Compliant : 1 Low : 3

Mexico's technical compliance was re-rated in a June 15, 2021 follow-up report

BASEL i

Rank : 50/110
Score : 5.09/10

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL i

Rank : 124/179
Score : 31/100

Tax Justice Network i

Rank : 80/133
Score : 53/100