JULY 2009 EDITION ARCHIVE
Legal Updates
300 PALABRAS - Mexico’s Mid-term Elections: Winners and Losers
Opinion by Dr. Mario Melgar-Adalid Mexico's recent mid-term elections gave the country a bit of a break. Mexican citizens forgot, at least for a few days, the pain and indignation caused by the death of 48 children at a daycare center fire in the state of Sonora. The growing depth of the economic crisis disappeared briefly from newspaper pages, and there was a sort of truce in the so-called war against organized crime. However, all of these factors, including such public indignation over the... [Read More]Recent Case Decision – Tax Receipts with Incomplete Address Information
On May 13, 2009 the Second Chamber of Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación) issued case decision number 2a./J.66/2009 under the title "Tax Receipts. Receipts issued with incomplete or erroneous address information incurs the infraction contained in section VII or Article 83 of the Fiscal Code of the Federation". Mexico's highest court held that if a tax receipt is not printed with the tax domicile, or such domicile is incomplete or erroneous... [Read More]Reforms to Mexico’s Credit Card Legal Regulatory System
On June 25, 2009 a decree was published in the Official Journal of the Federation amending Mexico's Law of Credit Institutions, Law for Transparency and Order in Financial Services and Law for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services Users. The purpose of the reforms is to regulate in a more specific manner form adhesion contracts entered into by financial institutions, with respect to their active and passive transactions carried out with clients. This includes the drafting of clauses... [Read More]New Tourism Law
A new General Law of Tourism (Ley General de Turismo) was published in the Official Journal of the Federation on June 18, 2009. The new Law is designed to delineate the authority of the Mexican Executive branch, States, Municipalities and the Federal District, as well as to coordinate the participation of the public and private sectors in ways that will benefit all of Mexico over the short, medium and long terms. The Law is fundamentally organic, and its contents geared to be programmatically organized... [Read More]New Regulations to Mexico’s Nationality Law
On June 17th of this year, regulations to Mexico's Nationality Law (Ley de Nacionalidad) were published in the Official Journal of the Federation, which entered into force the day following their publication, and which has as their objective regulating nationality questions and complementing application of the existing Nationality Law. The regulations contemplate various new elements in the nationality field, including the following: (i) introduction of a definition of "Declaration of Mexican... [Read More]Business & Politics Outlook
Political Thermometer
Elections in Mexico raised the temperature of some voters, but left others frigid. Polls anticipated that the PRI would make a comeback, but no such prediction accurately foresaw the strength of its return to primacy. The PRI won back the states of Queretaro and San Luis Potosi. It maintained its control over governorships in Nuevo Leon and Colima, losing only Sonora not for political reasons, but the tragic loss of 48 young lives in a daycare center fire in Sonora's capital of Hermosillo. The... [Read More]Economic Indicators
Peso/Dollar Exchange Rate
The quoted exchange rate as of July 10, 2009 was $13.7052 pesos per dollar.Mexican Stock Exchange
The Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) closed on July 10, 2009 at 23,565.26 points.Interest Rates
On July 10, 2009, the Average Interbank Interest Rate (TIEE) for a 28-day period was at 4.8750.Mexico IP Info
Notoriety and Reputation in Mexican Trademarks
Mexican Trademark law expressly prohibits the registration of famous and notorious marks. Article 90 of the Industrial Property Law (Ley de la Propiedad Industrial) establishes that "no mark with names, figures or three-dimensional forms, equal to or similar to a mark that has been declared notorious or famous in Mexico by the Institute may be registered, with respect to applications for any product or service." However it is important to distinguish what marks may be declared famous and... [Read More]