Mexico: Overview

Mexican antitrust practice has become a very relevant area due to the significant latest changes in our country, in both legislation and practice, most of them related to the increasing powers of antitrust authorities (COFECE and IFT) and higher penalties against those who breach antitrust law in Mexico. This has led to many companies, both local and international, implementing antitrust compliance policies and programmes to avoid investigation and possible sanctions.

With regard to antitrust matters, the constitutional reform established a new Mexican Antitrust Act (MAA), which has resulted in the Mexican Antitrust Commission pursuing a greater number of investigations and exercising its authority more vigorously, including the exercise of powers that were not used by the previous Federal Antitrust Commission. In addition, this MAC has given much greater scrutiny to mergers and has initiated several procedures with the new concepts established in the MAA in key industries for the Mexican economy, as in the case of the sugar, airlines and agriculture sector.

Likewise, the decision of separate the Mexican antitrust authorities into the Mexican Antitrust Commission (COFECE) and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) was initially viewed by many practitioners as a possible regression on the antitrust practice. The division may have cause that some relevant telecommunication cases could be resolved by an authority without experience in antitrust cases. Additionally, there are cases in which it could be unclear which authority is competent to act.

Nevertheless, since the implementation of such decision, the competition and antitrust environment in Mexico has been highly favored and both authorities have been acting efficiently increasing the number of cases and the sophistication of the arguments being discussed.

It is still early to analyse the effects of the division of antitrust authorities in Mexico, however, based on the results reached by both agencies it appears that sceptical practitioners may be wrong

The Mexican Antitrust Act

The first Mexican Antitrust Act was published on 24 December 1992, based primarily on the negotiations and execution of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico needed to make the necessary changes and additions to its internal legislation, mainly with regard to the defence and enforcement of fair trade and free competition, in order to ensure the entry into force and execution of NAFTA.

Since its publication, the MAA has undergone important reforms, taking into consideration changes in the Mexican economy and the way the markets have developed. The most important reforms to the MAA took place in 2006 and 2011 which, among other things, increased the penalties for breaching antitrust provisions.

In addition and as mentioned above, in June 2013 the Mexican Constitution was reformed in terms of antitrust and telecommunications, modifying the organisational nature of antitrust authorities and creating a specific authority that will review antitrust matters in the telecommunications market, which has been an area of great importance in recent decades in Mexico (the Constitutional Reform). The Constitutional Reform implies, among other things, the creation of a new MAA and its corresponding regulation, as well as the additional secondary legislation.

The regulatory provisions of the MAA

On 10 November 2014, the plenary of the Commission issued and published the Regulatory Provisions of the MAA (the Regulatory Provisions), which entered into full force and effect as of 11 November. Pursuant to the MAA these Regulatory Provisions were subject to a public survey.

In this regard, it is important to note that while the Regulatory Provisions were intended to clarify and regulate several provisions contained in the MAA, the reality is that they do not provide the legal certainty that they should; instead they contain very vague and unclear concepts.

In connection with the above, see below a brief summary of the main matters of concern regarding the Regulatory Provisions:

• The circumstantial evidence of a probable per se illegal practice (absolute monopolistic practice) as sufficient grounds to initiate an investigation.

             This provision makes inaccurate assumptions that could be applicable without requiring actual involvement of the economic agents that might be considered responsible for such behaviours.

             In this regard, we believe that the protection of the in dubio pro reo principle is at risk, given that if there is any doubt in connection with the active participation of an economic agent in such behaviours, the Regulatory Provisions do not favour the economic agent; in fact, they consider it as evidence of a likely per se illegal practice.

• Powers of the Commission for taking definite issues that must be proved, in case a person directly involved in a procedure does not answer the authorities’ questions or does not provide the requested information.

            From our point of view such provision is a clear violation of the no self-incrimination principle.

• Unclear criteria to declare the existence of substantial joint power between two or more economic agents.
• Lack of regulation in connection with ‘barriers to competition’, which is a novel legal concept not only in our domestic regulation but in international law.
• Lack of regulation in connection with relevant legal concepts of dawn raids (ie, client-attorney privileged communications, safeguarding of industrial secrets, safeguarding of personal information not related with the investigation, etc).
• Lack of clear guidelines or criteria regarding the admissible exchange of information among competitors.

The Mexican Antitrust Commission and the Federal Telecommunications Institute

The Mexican Antitrust Commission (the Commission) was created in 1993 as an independent agency of the Ministry of Economy with technical and operational autonomy and independence. By means of the Constitutional Reform, the Commission is now an autonomous constitutional entity. It is responsible for preventing, investigating and sanctioning monopolies, monopolistic practices and unlawful mergers in all markets (with the exception of telecommunications) with full autonomy in its decisions. The Commission also drafts and publishes guidelines and criteria regarding how to interpret, investigate, enforce and apply antitrust law.

However, the Commission may also issue, when it deems appropriate or upon request, binding opinions regarding fair trade to the government agencies with regard to effects on free competition of programmes, rules, agreements or other provisions. When economic agents have questions or concerns regarding any antitrust issue, they may file a consultation before the Commission, which will deliver a non-binding opinion to the interested parties.

Likewise, as a consequence of the Constitutional Reform, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (the Institute) has been created, which, among other things, is in charge of investigating, analysing and sanctioning antitrust breaches in the telecommunications market, as well as determining which companies have market power and stating measures in favour of free trade. In addition, by means of the Constitutional Reform and the Act, the Commission and the Institute are provided with additional tools and mechanisms to modify market structures with dominant companies, including ordering measures to remove barriers to competition, regulating access to essential inputs, and ordering the divestiture of assets, rights or shares, to eliminate anticompetitive effects. Also, the decisions of the Commission and the Institute must be analysed by specialised constitutional courts.

Through the Constitutional Reform and the Act, the Plenary (which is the main body of the Commission) has being increased from five to seven commissioners, who are elected through an evaluation committee with the approval of the President of the Republic and the Senate for a period of nine years. The Plenary has a chairman and the commissioners will not be simultaneously elected (with the exception of the first seven commissioners once the Commission is modified through the Constitutional Reform), guaranteeing the autonomy and independence of the Plenary. The commissioners vote on all resolutions of the Plenary and cannot be excused except under extraordinary circumstances.

The Institute is in the process of being provided with organisational legislation as a consequence of the Constitutional Reform. However, at this point, the Constitutional Reform only states the aforementioned provision about having seven commissioners.

Likewise, on 17 July 2014 the Plenary issued and published the Regulatory Provisions of the MAA applicable to the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.

Monopolistic activities

The MAA divides monopolistic activities into two main groups: absolute monopolistic practices and relative monopolistic practices.

Absolute monopolistic practices (also known as horizontal or per se illegal practices)

Absolute monopolistic practices are considered per se illegal, and these consist of contracts, agreements, arrangements or combinations among competing economic agents, which have as their purpose or effect any of the following: (i) to fix, raise, coordinate or manipulate prices; (ii) to establish an obligation not to produce, process, distribute, market or acquire but only a restricted or limited amount of goods, or the provision or transaction of a limited or restricted number, volume or frequency of services; (iii) to divide, distribute, allocate or impose portions or segments of a current or potential market of goods and services, by a determined or determinable group of customers, suppliers, time spans or spaces; (iv) to establish, arrange or coordinate bids or abstentions from tenders, contests, auctions or purchase calls; and (v) to exchange information with any of the purposes or effects referred to in the previous subsections.

It is important to mention that horizontal practices are considered null and void, and consequently they do not produce any legal effect and the economic agents that engage in such practices will face the sanctions provided in the MAA, including any criminal or civil liability that may arise therefrom.

However, demonstrating the existence of absolute monopolistic practices can be an extremely difficult task for the Commission in an investigation. In Mexico, the Commission or the plaintiffs need to obtain sufficient evidence in order to start an investigation or denounce monopolistic practices.

For the plaintiffs to provide this evidence, the information they will most likely refer to includes, among others things:

• testimonies from third parties that may be affected by the agreement;
• evidence gained through raids executed by the Commission on the investigated competitors (this tool is increasingly used by the authority to obtain key information for the investigation);
• communications between the companies involved, including meetings, emails, faxes or phone-call records; and
• the existence of behaviour that is unusual in the applicable market, which can only be explained by a possible agreement between competitors.

Due to the difficult of obtaining sufficient evidence, Mexican courts have determined that there should be related but conclusive evidence to infer from signs and evidence that an absolute monopolistic practice has taken place. It follows that sufficient indirect evidence paired with general statements is suitable to determine certain facts or circumstances from the best available information regarding the actions of companies that have entered into agreements to carry out absolute monopolistic practices.

Price fixing may occur when one or more competitors within a given market are able to control their supply, creating a shortage of that product. In other words, a group of competitors set the applicable market’s supply in such a way that the price of that product or service increases the profits gained by said competitors. In accordance with the MAA Regulations, indirect evidence of price fixing may come from the sale prices offered by two or more competitors being significantly higher or lower than the prices of the same products elsewhere, unless it results from taxes, transportation or distribution; or that such competitors set a range of prices or adhere to the prices issued by a competitor or association.

The purpose of product restriction or limitation is to control the supply of or demand for a certain product or service, thus causing an increase in prices. In most markets, product restriction or limitation can simply be affected by assigning the amount of goods or services competitors will provide or sell, letting the market itself decide the pricing on said product. Providing indirect evidence of this type of practice may require additional supply-and-demand studies of the product over time, taking into consideration previous distribution and sales from all competitors.

Market division takes place when competitors distribute, assign or impose segments of a current or potential market of goods and services, using their available customers, suppliers, schedules or locations. This type of practice takes place when competitors divide the market using one or more of the following divisions:

• by customers, when the involved companies agree not to seek or enter into similar agreements with any of the other companies’ customers;
• by territory, when competitors agree to restrict the availability of their products or services to certain areas, cities or territories; or
• by products, when competitors agree not to engage in the production, sale or distribution of certain products sold or produced by their competitors.

The gathering of indirect evidence of this type of practice can include demonstrating that the applicable market’s mobility has remained unchanged during a certain period of time, when competitors have had realistic opportunities to expand but have decided not to, contrary to their own interest.

Bid rigging takes place when competitors agree to participate in certain offers, or even refrain from participating in public bids, that are likely to have guarantee that the contract will be awarded to a specific competitor. This type of practice can be difficult to identify when the public authority has agreed to help the competitors control the market. However, indirect evidence can be obtained when the bidding is always awarded to the same company or when certain competitors have contracts awarded to them in a clear rotation (carousel practice), as well as when the competitors bid at higher prices or conditions that cannot compete with those offered by a competitor.

It is important to note that one additional absolute monopolistic practice was included in the MAA, which is the exchange of information with the purpose or effect of fixing prices, restricting supply, dividing markets or bid rigging.

Relative monopolistic practices (also known as vertical or rule of reason practices)

Under the MAA, relative monopolistic practices are any act, contract, agreement, procedure or combination, which has or may have as its purpose or effect, in the relevant market or a related market thereof, that of unduly displacing other economic agents, substantially impeding their access or establishing exclusive advantages in favour of one or several economic agents. Unlike horizontal monopolistic practices, it is commonplace that these practices are conducted in a vertical relationship (eg, between a producer and its distributor).

However, proving the illegality of the relative monopolistic practices is subject to ascertaining that: (i) such practices were carried out by one or more economic agents that individually or jointly exert market power in the same relevant market in which the practice is executed; and (ii) such practices did not produce gains in efficiency.

Generally, a company has substantial power in the market when it has the ability to raise prices, reduce or control the supply or otherwise restrict fair trade or free competition without the ability or possibility for its competitors to counter such actions. In order for the Commission to determine whether a company has substantial power in the market, it needs to consider:

• the company’s r market share and ability to unilaterally fix prices or restrict supply in the relevant market, without competitors being actually or potentially able to counter balance such power. To determine market share, the MAC may consider sales indicators, number of clients, production capacity, as well as any other factor deemed appropriate;
• the existence of barriers to entry and the factors that could foreseeably alter either said barriers or the supply of other competitors;
• the existence and market power of its competitors;
• the economic agents’ and their competitors’ possibilities to access input sources;
• the recent behaviour of the economic agent(s) that participate in said market; and
• any other factors provided by the Regulatory Provisions, and the technical criteria issued by the COFECE to that effect.

‘Relevant market’ is not defined in the MAA. However, Mexican courts have defined it as the geographical area in which similar products or services are available to supply or demand, considering both the available products or services and the geographical area in which they can be obtained. Therefore, in order for a relevant market to be defined, there needs to be a set of goods or services identical or similar available to consumers in an area large enough for the consumer to be able to obtain said goods or services.

Pursuant to the MAA, in order for the COFECE to establish a relevant market, it needs to take into consideration:

• the possibilities of substituting the good or service in question for others, whether of domestic or foreign origin, considering the technological possibilities, the availability of substitutes for consumers and the time required for such substitution;
• the good’s distribution costs; its relevant inputs; its complementary goods and substitutes from other regions or abroad, taking into account freights, insurance, tariffs and non-tariff restrictions, the restrictions imposed by economic agents or their associations and the time required to supply the market from these regions;
• the costs and probabilities that users or consumers have to access other markets;
• the federal, local or international regulatory restrictions that limit the users’ or consumers’ access to alternative supply sources, or the access of suppliers to alternative clients; and
• other factors provided by the Regulatory Provisions, and the technical criteria issued by the Commission to that effect.

The MAA indicates the following activities as relative monopolistic practices:

• the fixing of exclusive marketing or distribution rights;
• the imposition of conditions that a distributor must follow regarding the marketing or distribution of goods or services;
• tied sales;
• the refusal to sell, trade or provide goods or services normally offered to third parties;
• boycotts;
• the granting of discounts or incentives with the requirement of not engaging in economic activities with a certain third party;
• cross-subsidies;
• price discrimination;
• the activities engaged in by competitors with the purpose of increasing costs, hindering the production process or reducing the demand for competitors;
• the denial of, restriction of access to, or access under discriminatory terms and conditions to an essential input; and
• margin squeezing, which is the narrowing of margins between the prices of access to an essential input provided by one or more agents and the price of a good or service offered to the final consumer by those economic agents, in which the same input is used for its production.

The main purpose of the last two activities mentioned above, which were included in the MAA, is the avoidance of the abusive exploitation of essential inputs. Therefore, the Commission must determine the existence of essential inputs, considering the following:

• if the essential input is controlled by one or more economic agents with substantial power, or which have been determined as dominant agents by the Federal Telecommunications Institute;
• whether or not the reproduction of the input is possible by another economic agent from a technical, legal or economic point of view;
• if the input is indispensable for the provision of the goods or services in one or more markets, and if it has close substitutes;
• the circumstances under which the economic agent gained control of the input; and
• any other criteria established under the regulatory provisions.

Those last two are also novel types of conduct included in the MAA, and for greater regulatory precision, the Act establishes the criteria for determining the existence of this innovative legal concept called ‘essential inputs’, the main purpose of which is the avoidance of the abusive exploitation of those inputs that might be essential for entering or participate in a market. Therefore, the criteria the Commission must follow in order to determine the existence of essential inputs is the following:

• if the essential input is controlled by one or more economic agents with substantial power, or which have been determined as preponderant agents by the Federal Telecommunications Institute;
• whether or not the reproduction of the input by another economic agent is possible, from a technical, legal or economic point of view;
• if the input is indispensable for the provision of the goods or services in one or more markets, and if it has close substitutes; and
• the circumstances under which the economic agent gained control of the input.

In addition, the Regulatory Provisions state that it shall also be considered whether allowing the use of an ‘essential input’ by a third party will generate efficiency in the market.

Recently, the COFECE issued a Guide for Processing the Procedure of Investigation of Relative Monopolistic Practices or Prohibited Mergers to be disseminated among economic agents, practitioners, authorities and the public in general, the form in which the Investigating Authority of the COFECE carries out an investigation procedure of a possible relative monopolistic practice or prohibited merger, and information about the stages of the investigation procedure.

Leniency programme

Since 2006 the COFECE has had a leniency programme in place for companies or individuals involved in absolute monopolistic practices to voluntarily report their activities. Under the MAA, companies or individuals that have participated in absolute monopolistic practices may reduce or avoid sanctions (which can include criminal sanctions) provided they denounce the illegal acts in question and take the necessary steps to terminate their participation. The leniency programme grants full immunity and confidentiality to the company or individual that was the whistle-blower, in order to continue promoting the option for such company or individual to apply for the immunity programme in current or future investigations.

Mergers

The MAA defines mergers as the acquisition or control operation by which companies, shares, stocks, trusts or assets in general between competitors, suppliers or customers are concentrated. The Commission investigates and, if applicable, sanctions mergers that may have the purpose of reducing, impairing or preventing fair trade of identical or similar goods or services.

Not all mergers must be notified to and cleared by the Commission prior to their execution. The MAA states that, in order to determine if a merger notice must be filed before the Commission, the participating companies must determine whether the merger will have effects in Mexico and whether the merger surpasses the thresholds set forth in the MAA. If the merger exceeds any of the following thresholds, the companies involved must file a notice before the Commission in the following situations:

• The price of the transaction in Mexico (that is, considering only the companies, subsidiaries, affiliates or assets located in Mexico, which will be indirectly acquired by the acquiring company) exceeds approximately US$75 million. The Commission has recognised that often in international transactions no allocation of the price to be paid for the Mexican assets or shares is made and therefore it is not possible to determine if this threshold is surpassed.
• The buyer, whether located in Mexico or abroad, will acquire at least 35 per cent of the assets or shares of a company or companies (whether located in Mexico or abroad) whose assets or annual sales in Mexico exceed approximately US$75 million. To calculate the value of the assets, the ‘total assets value’ stated in the audited financial statements for the previous year must be considered. If no audited financial statements are available, the internal financial statements could be used.
• The assets or annual sales volumes of the buyer or the seller (whether located in Mexico or abroad), exceed approximately US$201 million and the transaction involves the purchase in Mexico of assets or capital greater than approximately US$35 million. The calculation of the asset value is obtained from the audited financial statements. Additionally, to calculate the ‘capital’ acquired, the information regarding the ‘adjusted for inflation capital’ stated in the financial statements for the previous fiscal year must be considered.

When a merger has effects in Mexico and any of the mentioned thresholds are surpassed, the participating companies are obliged to file a merger notice to the Commission. However, in those transactions where it is clear that the effects produced will not have adverse effects in the relevant market, the merger notice can be filed through a simplified format, with the possibility for the Commission to request additional information before authorising the merger.

In this respect, the Commission recently issued the Merger Notification Guide, the purpose of which is to provide information on and an explanation of the concepts, the law and the procedures associated with the notification of mergers, in order to facilitate this procedure for the economic agents.

Furthermore, in mid-2015 the Commission issued the Technical Criteria for the Calculation and Application of a Quantitative Index to Measure Market Concentration, which explain in detail the method the COFECE uses to measure, through the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) the degree of concentration in the relevant markets, and to explain the considerations for applying it. This index permits the COFECE to come to a first approximation of the structure of the markets and the effects the mergers may have on them.

Finally, at the end of 2015 the Federal Fees Act was amended to include that beginning on 1 January 2016, for the reception, study and processing of each merger notification, the economic agents initiating the process must pay a filing fee of approximately US$8,888.

Proceedings

The monopolistic practices procedure seeks to protect free competition and fair trade. It is considered a public interest activity.

By means of the MAA, the Investigating Authority has been created, to guarantee the independence of the authorities responsible for the investigation process and the authorities responsible for the resolution.

During the investigation process, all documentation and information filed by all interested parties (denounced parties, plaintiffs, third parties and authorities) is confidential and unavailable to anyone outside the Commission and its personnel. This has been greatly criticised by many who claim it damages the constitutional right to due process. However, no claims in this regard have been successful for the interested parties, strengthening the powers of investigation of the Commission.

The first stage of the procedure is the investigation and research stage, which has the purpose of gathering evidence in order to determine possible monopolistic activities. The evidence is gathered by the Commission by requesting information and documentation it considers necessary from all interested parties, by summoning people the Commission believes may hold information regarding the investigation and by conducting dawn raids with the purpose of obtaining additional information.

The investigation stage lasts for up to 120 business days, with the possibility of extending the period for up to four additional periods of 120 business days. In any case, when the investigation stage of the procedure ends, the Commission must either issue and notify to those companies that may be responsible, a probable responsibility notice, if the Commission determines the possible existence of monopolistic activities; or the closing of the investigation, when the Commission concludes that from the gathered evidence it cannot determine that any monopolistic practices have been undertaken. Any of the aforementioned actions ends the investigation stage of the procedure. Only if a probable responsibility notice is issued by the Commission may the second stage of the procedure begin, the trial stage.

It is important to note that under the MAA there is no longer an obligation to publish the start of investigation in the Official Gazette.

The trial stage begins with the issuance of the probable responsibility notice, which contains, among other things, the monopolistic activities the defendant companies allegedly committed, the elements considered to draw said conclusion, and the request to notify the defendants to defend themselves and try to disprove the arguments and conclusions of the Commission by providing evidence and proof they consider necessary, within 45 business days after the notification. It is at this stage when the investigation file will not be confidential for the parties and they will have access to all non-confidential information gathered throughout the investigation phase. The necessary evidence must be included with the document in which the defendant companies answer the probable responsibility notice, which may include all documents, information, expert opinions, testimonies and all other information that is relevant to the investigation and is presented in accordance with the applicable legislation.

Once the evidence has been presented and admitted, the Commission will have 15 business days to reach its decision regarding the offered arguments and evidence. Once the evidence has been submitted, and within the next 10 business days, the Commission can request the gathering and filing of additional evidence in order to have a better understanding of the investigation. Once all the evidence has been gathered and presented before the Commission, it shall provide a 10-business-day period for the investigating authority and the parties to provide any final arguments in connection with the procedure. When the final arguments have been presented, one commissioner, by instructions of the chairman of the Commission, shall receive all information gathered for his or her analysis, following an appointment order. The selected commissioner shall then be required to present a final resolution draft before the Plenary for its approval, rejection or modification. The Commission shall issue the final resolution within the following 40 business days.

However, 10 days after all the parties have filed their final arguments, the defendant companies, or the plaintiffs, may request the Commission to have an oral hearing with the Plenary to make the statements they deem appropriate.

The MAA includes several special procedures, among which are:

• investigation procedure to determine the existence of barriers to competition or essential inputs that could generate anticompetitive effects;
• procedure for resolution regarding market conditions such as effective competition, market power existence or any other analogous concept; and
• procedure for the issuance of formal opinions or resolutions on licensing, concessions, permits and similar authorisations.

All these specific procedures can be initiated by the COFECE itself or at the request of the President (either himself or herself or through the Ministry of the Economy). With the addition of this specific regulation, and where applicable, a resolution by the COFECE, the latter may order the entities involved in markets related to essential inputs to remove the existing barriers to new competitors, as well as the divestiture of assets or rights.

Barriers to competition

The concept ‘barriers to competition’ is a new one – globally – that was included for the first time in Mexican legislation through the recent MAA. This concept is defined as any structural market characteristic, act or deed performed by economic agents with the purpose or effect of impeding access to competitors or limiting their ability to compete in the markets; which impedes or distorts the process of competition and free market access, as well as any legal provision issued by any level of government that unduly impedes or distorts the process of competition and free market access.

From this definition we can abstract that any of the following three premises that impedes or distorts the competition process and the free market may be considered a barrier to competition:

• structural characteristics of the market;
• acts or deeds of the economic agents; or
• legal provisions issued by any level of government.

Thus, in order to guarantee effective competitive conditions in the markets damaged or distorted by any of these three premises, the lawmaker decided to include a special procedure by virtue of which: (i) the existence of this type of barrier to competition will be determined; and (ii) the corrective measures that are considered necessary to eliminate the restrictions on the efficient functioning of the market in question are established.

In contrast to the concept of barriers to competition, the MAA – since its beginning in 1992 – established the concept of ‘barriers to entry’ which according to article 59 of the MAA is one of the elements that must be analysed to determine substantial power in the relevant market.

In comparison with barriers to competition, article 7 of the Regulatory Provisions contains an illustrative list of those elements or acts that may be considered barriers to entry.

Under the Constitutional Reform, the procedures analysed by the antitrust authorities may only be appealed by constitutional appeal, which will be substantiated by specialised antitrust judges and courts to be created, and will not be subject to suspension. In addition, only if companies are punished with fines or divestiture of assets, rights or shares, will the resolution be implemented pending resolution of the appeal. Finally, only the resolutions that terminate the proceedings and regarding violations committed in the resolution or during the procedure may be appealed.

Enforcement and sanctions

Regarding antitrust legislation in Mexico, both the company and its employees directly participating or involved in any activities in breach of the antitrust law can be held jointly responsible for any such breach of the MAA. However, the penalties imposed on companies and individuals are different, both in amounts and in nature.

The sanctions for breaching the MAA or engaging in any monopolistic practices or prohibited mergers can be administrative and criminal in nature, with the possibility of doubling any sanction in case of recidivism. Regarding companies that breach antitrust law, the MAA may order the correction or suppression of the monopolistic activity or prohibited merger and the imposition of fines that may go up to 10 per cent of the company’s income, depending on the action in breach of antitrust regulations, as follows:

• up to 5 per cent of the company’s income if the merger is carried out without giving prior notice to the Commission, in the event such notification is legally required;
• to 8 per cent of the company’s income if the company engages in any relative monopolistic activities;
• to 10 per cent of the company’s income if the company engages in absolute monopolistic activities, breaches any preventive measures or breaches any conditions imposed regarding mergers;
• to 8 per cent of the company’s income if engaging in an illegal concentration; and
• to 10 per cent for failing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Commission in the concentration resolution.

With regard to individuals or employees involved in the defendant company’s execution of monopolistic activities, the applicable fines, as stated in the MAA, are as follows:

• up to approximately US$940,000 for anyone who helps, induces or participates in any monopolistic activities, prohibited mergers or other market restrictions stated in the MAA;
• up to approximately US$1.035 million for anyone who directly participates in any monopolistic activities or prohibited mergers while representing the defendant company;
• up to approximately US$915,000 for misstating or delivering false information to the Commission; and
• up to approximately US$940,000 for the government officials who have participated in any act related to a concentration which had to be authorised by the Commission.

In accordance with the Constitutional Reform, the Federal Criminal Code was also reformed to include felonies regarding breach of antitrust provisions. The penalty for individuals directly involved in any absolute monopolistic activities is imprisonment from five to 10 years.

Furthermore, consistent with the absolute monopolistic practice added to the MAA, another felony was included, which is the exchange of information with the purpose or effect of fixing prices, restricting supply, dividing markets and bid rigging.

Finally, it is considered a felony to alter, destroy or disturb documents, electronic files or any evidence during an inspection.

The Commission determines the aforementioned sanctions based on the seriousness of, and the damage caused by, the breach, the intention to carry out any prohibited actions and the share of the company in the market, as well as the size of the applicable market and the duration of the monopolistic activities.

International cooperation

Under the MAA and its Regulations, during the investigations by the Commission, the Commission and the Institute are entitled to request information or evidence regarding monopolistic activities committed in Mexico from foreign government agencies, as an act of cooperation between government authorities, in order to ensure compliance with antitrust law. Furthermore, the Commission and the Institute are specifically empowered to execute and negotiate all sorts of agreements and international treaties regarding antitrust and free competition.

Based on the fact that international trade has increased significantly in the past decades, Mexico has executed several free trade agreements with several countries (including the United States, Canada, Japan, Chile, the European Union and Israel) that include and recognise the importance of international cooperation and coordination among the competent authorities to ensure the effective enforcement of antitrust law between the free trade areas. In addition, Mexico has executed agreements with the United States and Canada, among others, that deepen cooperation to ensure the prevention and prohibition of monopolistic activities.

Outlook and challenges

We shall follow up closely the resolutions of the COFECE in this significant cases, given that such resolutions will represent in the future important precedents of this new authority, as well as a reflect of the long-term results of the above mentioned integral reform in Mexico.

However, with independence of the above, what is a fact is that nowadays we have seen a better and stronger Mexican Antitrust and Competition Authority, which has decided to exercise its faculties fearlessly but responsibly, with a growing level of expertise that allows it to solve increasingly complex cases.