On July 16, 2025, a Decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) amending, adding, and repealing various provisions of the Federal Economic Competition Law (LFCE) and the Federal Law on State-Owned Entities. The amendments entered into force on July 17, 2025, generating direct implications for companies operating in national markets.

Institutional Transformation: From COFECE to CNA

One of the most notable changes is the transformation of the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) into the new National Antitrust Commission (CNA). The CNA will be a decentralized public agency, attached to the Ministry of Economy, with legal personality and its own assets, as well as management autonomy and technical-operational independence. Under the previous regime, the competition authority functioned as a constitutionally autonomous body; under the reform, it is structured as a decentralized agency, without altering its substantive mandate.

Transition Period:  The CNA will be composed of a Plenary formed by five Commissioners, responsible for resolving substantive matters related to economic competition, and the Investigative Authority, a specialized unit responsible for conducting investigations in matters of economic competition (including monopolistic practices and concentrations) and, where appropriate, requesting interim measures. Until the Plenary of the CNA is formally established, COFECE will continue handling proceedings under the previous legal framework; once the new collegial body is in place, the CNA will assume all corresponding functions.

This modification entails changes in structure and internal processes, although the fundamental objective of ensuring free competition and combating monopolistic practices remains intact.

Implications of the Loss of Constitutional Autonomy.

• Budget and administrative control: The CNA will now depend on the budget allocated by the Ministry of Economy, which may limit its financial and operational independence.
• Appointments and accountability: The appointment of the head of the National Antitrust Commission, as well as the commissioners who make up its Plenary, will be carried out by the Federal Executive and ratified by the Senate, in accordance with the regime of the Federal Law on State-Owned Entities. This increases the influence of the Executive Branch over the composition of the authority.
• Policy coordination: As a sectorized agency, the CNA will have to align with the competitiveness and industrial policy objectives set by the Ministry of Economy, which could affect the technical independence of its decisions.

New Procedures and Timelines in Investigations and Mergers.

The reform introduces significant adjustments to the Commission’s procedures:

• Mergers and acquisitions: The authorization process now establishes a maximum 30-day period to issue a resolution once the required information is complete; under the previous regime, the standard resolution period was 60 business days, extendable by 40. If no express resolution is issued within the new period, it shall be deemed that the Commission has no objection to the notified transaction.
  Likewise, the notification thresholds set forth in Article 86 of the LFCE have been reduced, meaning that a greater number of transactions between economic agents must now be notified to the Commission, whereas under the previous regime many of these remained outside the scope of review due to not meeting the quantitative thresholds. Notification is now required for any transaction whose value exceeds 16 million times the UMA, compared to the prior threshold of 18 million. It is also required when acquiring at least thirty percent of the assets or shares of a company whose sales or assets individually exceed the threshold, whereas the previous requirement was thirty-five percent. In the case of accumulations, the new threshold is set at 7.4 million UMAs, down from 8 million, and the sales or asset benchmark applicable to the participating entities has been reduced from 48 million to 40 million UMAs. This regulatory redesign clearly reflects the authority’s intent to adopt a stricter and more proactive posture: by lowering the thresholds, the scope of transactions subject to review is expanded, thereby reinforcing preventive control over the market for concentrations.
• Interim measures: The Commission’s powers to issue interim measures during investigations for monopolistic practices have been reinforced and clarified, specifying procedural stages and applicable deadlines.

Key Changes to the Sanctions Regime

Fines for monopolistic practices and illegal concentrations have been significantly increased, ranging from one to three million times the Unit of Measurement and Update (UMA). Maximum percentage thresholds based on company income have also been raised for specific offenses. Notably, non-compliance with interim measures may be sanctioned with fines of up to 10% of the economic agent’s income.

Institutional Transition: Immediate Aspects
During the transitional phase set out in the Decree, COFECE will continue to operate under the previous legal framework until the CNA’s Plenary is fully established. In this period, procedural deadlines for ongoing investigations are suspended and will resume once the new Plenary is formed. This suspension of deadlines did not exist under the previous legislation and seeks to prevent fragmented decisions during the institutional transition.

Additionally, a maximum period of 180 calendar days is established from the integration of the Plenary for the Executive to issue a new Regulation of the LFCE, which will specify additional operational details.

Minor Amendments to the Federal Law on State-Owned Entities

Finally, the reform formally incorporates the CNA into the Federal Law on State-Owned Entities, specifying its new status as a decentralized agency attached to the Ministry of Economy. Further details will be defined in its forthcoming Organic Statute.

Any questions or doubts regarding this bulletin should be directed to:

Héctor Hernández
hhc@cmgdlaw.com