On February 21, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) published an amendment to the Regulatory Provisions of the Federal Economic Competition Law (LFCE). This modification aims to strengthen and clarify the regulatory framework regarding precautionary measures in procedures before said Commission.

The reform specifically affects articles 158, 159, 160, and 162 of the Regulatory Provisions of LFCE within the section on precautionary measures.

The new wording of Article 158 states that the Plenum will issue an agreement to lift the precautionary measure when the resolution requiring a guarantee is complied with, or when the deadlines established for the precautionary measure expire.

The paragraph added to Article 159 establishes that the technical criteria will also include specifications regarding the acceptance, custody, return, and validity of the guarantees provided to COFECE as a bond for lifting precautionary measures.

On the other hand, the amendment to Article 160 states that, when constituting these guarantees, the specific legal provisions corresponding to each type of guarantee must be followed, as well as those established in the technical criteria.

Finally, article 162 emphasizes that the documents presented must be original. Additionally, according to the new wording of this article, it will be necessary to verify that the guarantee granted follows the guarantees mentioned in Article 160.

Based on the above, we can understand that COFECE seeks, through these modifications, to ensure the right of economic agents affected by precautionary measures to request a bond, provide certainty about the lifting of these measures when compliance with the bond resolution is met, establish that the requirements for guarantees provided as bond will be regulated through technical criteria, and specify more thoroughly the types of bonds that can be presented to lift precautionary measures.

We believe that these changes provide certainty to economic agents in procedures before COFECE, protecting the rights of all parties and ensuring that precautionary measures can be lifted with a bond.

Our team of specialists in economic competition is at your disposal to address any questions regarding this matter.

This newsletter was prepared by José Antonio Postigo-Uribe ([email protected]), Marisol González-Echevarria ([email protected]), José Miguel Ortiz-Otero ([email protected]), Max Ernesto Hernández-Ernult ([email protected]), Marisa Romero-Martínez ([email protected]), Tania Elizabeth Trejo-Galvez ([email protected]), and Jesus Alonzo González-Hermosillo ([email protected]).