Mexico Imposes New Rules on Exchange Houses EFE
go to original April 11, 2012

Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade. (EFE)

Mexico City - The government has implemented a series of regulations to fight money laundering, including requiring exchange houses to report transactions with clients and "worrisome internal transactions," the Mexican Finance and Public Credit Secretariat said.

The regulations were published Tuesday in the Official Daily of the Federation and are designed to "increase the level of adaptation of the current rules in accordance with international standards for fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism," the secretariat said.

Exchange houses will have to establish procedures for identifying customers, as well as for verifying and updating the information provided by clients.

The new regulations require exchange houses to report to the Finance and Public Credit Secretariat "relevant transactions" by customers, meaning transactions of $5,000 or more, the secretariat said.

"Unusual transactions" must also be reported, with such transactions being defined as those "where the origin or destination of funds, as well as the amount, frequency, type or nature of the transaction," stand out, the secretariat said.

Exchange houses must now report "worrisome" activities in which shareholders, owners, executives, employees and those with power of attorney engage, preventing compliance with the law regarding money laundering or the financing of terrorism, the Finance and Public Credit Secretariat said.

One of the most effective strategies for fighting criminal organizations is to "reduce the supply of economic resources" since "the economic capabilities of organized crime groups are one of their main sources of support for evading justice," the secretariat said.

The new regulations build on rules implemented by the government in 2010 to curb money laundering.

The regulations implemented two years ago require lenders to report all dollar-denominated transactions to the government quarterly.

Currency reports are used by regulators to identify suspicious transactions.

The new regulations impose a higher standard of responsibility on exchange houses in terms of identifying suspicious transactions and monitoring customers.

Between $15 billion and $40 billion, according to various studies, flow through Mexico each year from the illegal drug trade.

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