COFECE publishes its Guide for the Notification of Economic Agent Concentrations
8 abril 2021

MEXICO

On April 8, The Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE, in Spanish) published, in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF, in Spanish), the Guidelines for the Notification of Economic Agent Concentrations. The document defines what is understood as a concentration to include collaboration agreements understood as Joint Ventures. It also sets out the format for filing a notification of this anticompetitive practice and its penalties. The Guide is not binding, although it reflects the operational practice currently followed by COFECE in the processing of a merger notification and clarifies the fines applied. It is already in force.

Among the provisions of the Guide, the following stand out:

  • Collaboration agreements between economic agents referred to as Joint Ventures may qualify as a concentration, as long as they imply the union of two or more agents to carry out economic activities jointly, either in contractual terms or through a legal entity.
  • The notification of concentration must be filed by the Economic Agents directly involved in the concentration. Agents who sign a contract are considered to be involved, except for those persons who take part in the act for other purposes. In case of transfer of shares, the direct participant is considered to be the one who acquires and the one who transfers its rights and obligations.
  • Agents who have not notified a concentration when legally required to do so will be sanctioned with fines for the equivalent of USD 23,000 and 5% of their income.
  • In the event that the acquired party to a concentration is in a precarious economic situation, information must be provided on the financial deterioration that does not allow the company to meet its financial commitments. Documentation should then be included that demonstrates that there are no other plausible solutions, such as corporate restructuring or obtaining financing, other than the notified concentration.
Noticias Relacionadas
wefeqwf