Anti-Money Laundering Policy Mexico (Política de Prevención de Lavado de Dinero)

An Anti-Money Laundering Policy Mexico (Política de Prevención de Lavado de Dinero or Política AML) is a formal corporate compliance document that establishes an organisation's system of controls, procedures, and responsibilities designed to prevent the company's products, services, and financial transactions from being used to launder money (lavar dinero) or finance terrorism (financiar el terrorismo) in violation of Mexico's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) legal framework. The policy defines customer due diligence (debida diligencia del cliente) standards, transaction monitoring procedures, suspicious transaction reporting (reporte de operaciones sospechosas or ROS) obligations, record-keeping requirements, and employee training programmes.

The primary legal framework for AML/CFT compliance in Mexico is the Ley Federal para la Prevención e Identificación de Operaciones con Recursos de Procedencia Ilícita (LFPIORPI, commonly called the Ley Antilavado or the Ley Anti-LAFI, DOF 17 October 2012), which entered into force on 1 September 2013. Article 17 LFPIORPI designates specific activities (actividades vulnerables) that are subject to AML/CFT obligations — these include real estate transactions (compraventa de inmuebles), purchase and sale of vehicles (vehículos de motor, aeronaves, embarcaciones), gambling services (juegos de azar), money exchange operations (casas de cambio), legal and accounting services involving client funds, trust services (fideicomisos), and various other high-risk commercial activities. Companies performing these designated activities must: identify and verify the identity of their clients (clientes) and beneficial owners (beneficiarios controladores) — the Know Your Customer (KYC) process; monitor transactions for patterns consistent with money laundering or terrorist financing; file Reportes de Operaciones Sospechosas (ROS) and Reportes de Operaciones Relevantes (ROR) with the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF); and maintain records for a minimum of five years.

The Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF) — created under the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP) by the Reglamento Interior de la SHCP — is Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit and the primary AML/CFT supervisory authority for non-financial sector entities subject to LFPIORPI Article 17. The UIF collects and analyses financial intelligence reports, coordinates with the Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) on money laundering prosecutions, and shares intelligence with the Egmont Group — the international association of 166 Financial Intelligence Units — and FATF (Financial Action Task Force, known in Spanish as the Grupo de Acción Financiera Internacional, GAFI) member jurisdictions.

For financial sector entities — banks (instituciones de crédito), brokerage firms (casas de bolsa), insurance companies (aseguradoras), SOFOM entities, and regulated payment institutions under the Ley Fintech — AML/CFT obligations are imposed by sector-specific regulations issued by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), the Comisión Nacional de Seguros y Fianzas (CNSF), and the Banco de México (Banxico) under the Ley de Instituciones de Crédito (LIC) Articles 115 and 115 bis and related Circulares — which impose more detailed requirements than the general LFPIORPI framework.

Money laundering as a criminal offence in Mexico is defined and penalised in Código Penal Federal (CPF) Article 400 bis — criminalising acts of acquisition, use, possession, control, or transfer of resources, rights, or property, when the person knows they are the proceeds of illicit activities (recursos de procedencia ilícita), with the purpose of concealing or disguising their illicit origin. Penalties under CPF Article 400 bis range from five to fifteen years imprisonment and fines of one thousand to five thousand days of minimum wage — with enhanced penalties when the offence is committed by a public official, a financial institution, or as part of an organised crime network under the Ley Federal Contra la Delincuencia Organizada (LFCDO).

Mexico's FATF membership and its commitments under the Palermo Convention (Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Delincuencia Organizada Transnacional) and the Mérida Initiative mean that Mexico's AML/CFT framework is subject to periodic international evaluation — the FATF conducted a mutual evaluation of Mexico's AML/CFT system in 2018, resulting in a series of recommendations for legislative and regulatory reform that have driven ongoing updates to LFPIORPI implementing rules and UIF guidance.

An Anti-Money Laundering Policy Mexico is required for any business that performs activities designated as 'actividades vulnerables' under Article 17 of the Ley Federal para la Prevención e Identificación de Operaciones con Recursos de Procedencia Ilícita (LFPIORPI) — as well as for any organisation that wishes to establish a proactive AML/CFT compliance framework to protect itself from being used as a vehicle for money laundering.

Real estate developers (desarrolladores inmobiliarios), real estate agents (agentes inmobiliarios), and notaries (notarios públicos) participating in the purchase and sale of property in Mexico must comply with LFPIORPI Article 17 Fraction I — real estate transactions above the threshold of 8,025 UDIS (approximately $750,000 MXN) trigger mandatory KYC obligations, beneficial ownership identification, and reporting requirements to the UIF. Real estate professionals who fail to comply face LFPIORPI administrative sanctions.

Vehicle dealers (distribuidoras de automóviles), aircraft dealers, and boat dealers fall under LFPIORPI Article 17 Fraction II — transactions above specified thresholds trigger UIF reporting obligations for both the seller and the buyer.

Money service businesses — including casas de cambio (currency exchange operators), money transfer operators (operadores de transferencias de dinero), and payment service providers — face the most comprehensive AML/CFT obligations under the LFPIORPI and sector-specific SHCP regulations.

Professional service firms — law firms (despachos jurídicos), accounting firms (despachos contables), and tax advisory firms — that provide services involving the receipt, administration, or investment of client funds, the creation or management of companies or trusts, or the execution of real estate transactions for clients, are subject to LFPIORPI Article 17 Fraction XVI reporting obligations.

Financial institutions regulated by the CNBV — including banks, brokerage firms, SOFOM entities, credit unions (uniones de crédito), and savings and loans cooperatives (cajas de ahorro) — must comply with CNBV AML/CFT circulares that impose detailed KYC, transaction monitoring, ROS, and record-keeping requirements under LIC Article 115.

Any business, even outside the designated activity categories, should adopt an AML/CFT policy if it routinely receives large cash payments (pagos en efectivo), serves customers in high-risk industries or jurisdictions, or is a subsidiary of a foreign company with international AML/CFT compliance obligations — as LFPIORPI art. 17 and FGR enforcement demonstrate, the reputational and criminal risks of unwitting involvement in money laundering far exceed the cost of a proactive compliance programme.

An effective Anti-Money Laundering Policy Mexico compliant with the Ley Federal para la Prevención e Identificación de Operaciones con Recursos de Procedencia Ilícita (LFPIORPI) and UIF guidelines must contain the following essential elements:

Designation of Compliance Officer: Appointment of a designated Oficial de Cumplimiento (Compliance Officer) or Responsable del Programa AML — a senior officer of the company responsible for implementing the AML policy, overseeing KYC procedures, reviewing and filing UIF reports, maintaining AML records, and serving as the company's point of contact with the UIF. Under LFPIORPI Article 18, entities subject to the law must register with the UIF through the Portal Único de Prevención de Lavado de Dinero (Portal UIF) and designate a compliance officer in the registration.

Customer Identification and Due Diligence (KYC): Documented procedures for identifying and verifying the identity of customers (clientes), beneficial owners (beneficiarios controladores), and authorised representatives (representantes legales) before establishing a business relationship or completing a designated transaction. For individuals (personas físicas): official identification (INE/IFE credential, passport, or INAPAM credential), CURP verification, and RFC if the transaction has tax implications. For companies (personas morales): RFC, constitutive act (acta constitutiva), Registro Público de Comercio registration, list of shareholders and directors, and identification of the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO — persona física con control efectivo) per LFPIORPI Article 16. For foreign clients: equivalent foreign identity documents plus country risk assessment.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for High-Risk Clients: Enhanced KYC procedures for clients classified as high-risk — including Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs — Personas Políticamente Expuestas) defined in LFPIORPI Article 3 Fraction XV as current or former senior public officials (servidores públicos de alto nivel) and their immediate family members, clients in high-risk jurisdictions on FATF grey and black lists, clients in high-risk industries, and clients with complex or opaque ownership structures. EDD requires senior management approval, more frequent transaction monitoring, and enhanced source-of-funds verification.

Transaction Monitoring: Systems and procedures to monitor customer transactions for patterns consistent with money laundering or terrorist financing — including: Operaciones Relevantes (transactions exceeding 7,500 UDIS in cash, approximately $700,000 MXN); Operaciones Inusuales (transactions that do not correspond to the customer's declared economic profile or that present unusual patterns); and Operaciones Internas Preocupantes (internal transactions by employees that suggest misuse of the company's systems for AML). Monitoring may be manual (for low-volume businesses) or automated (using transaction monitoring software for high-volume businesses).

Reporting to UIF: Mandatory reporting obligations under LFPIORPI Articles 17, 18, and 24: Reportes de Operaciones Relevantes (ROR) — monthly reports of cash transactions above 7,500 UDIS filed through the Portal UIF within 17 business days of the reporting period; Reportes de Operaciones Sospechosas (ROS) — immediate reports of transactions that the company suspects involve money laundering or terrorist financing, filed within 30 calendar days of the suspicion arising; and Reportes de Operaciones Vulnerables (ROV) — reports of designated activities under LFPIORPI Article 17 performed above the applicable thresholds.

Record Keeping: Retention of KYC documents, transaction records, UIF reports, and training records for a minimum of five years (cinco años) from the date of the transaction or the end of the business relationship, as required by LFPIORPI Article 18 Fraction III. Records must be accessible for inspection by the UIF, SAT, CNBV (for regulated entities), and FGR upon lawful request.

Prohibition on Tipping Off: Express prohibition on disclosing to a customer or third party that a Reporte de Operación Sospechosa (ROS) has been filed about them, or that a UIF investigation is underway — commonly referred to as tipping off or alerta al cliente. Disclosure of a pending ROS to the subject of the report constitutes a criminal offence under Código Penal Federal provisions on obstruction of justice.

Employee Training: Annual mandatory AML/CFT training for all relevant staff — covering the recognition of suspicious transaction indicators (señales de alerta), KYC procedures, reporting obligations, and the criminal penalties for money laundering under CPF Article 400 bis. New employees must complete AML training within 30 days of commencing employment. Training records must be maintained.

Forms-legal.com provides this Anti-Money Laundering Policy Mexico template as a starting point. Entities subject to CNBV, CNSF, or SHCP AML/CFT regulation (financial institutions, Fintech companies, money service businesses) must comply with sector-specific AML regulations that impose significantly more detailed requirements — review by a Licenciado en Derecho specialised in cumplimiento normativo financiero or prevención de lavado de dinero is essential before implementation.