Simple Credit Facility Agreement Mexico (Contrato de Apertura de Crédito Simple)

A Simple Credit Facility Agreement Mexico (Contrato de Apertura de Crédito Simple) is a commercial banking contract under which a financial institution (acreditante) makes available a predetermined sum of money (monto del crédito) to a borrower (acreditado), who may draw the entire amount in a single disbursement or in multiple tranches within the agreed availability period, and is obligated to repay the principal plus agreed interest and charges by the maturity date. The legal foundation is the Ley General de Títulos y Operaciones de Crédito (LGTOC) Article 291, published as amended in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, which characterises the apertura de crédito as a contract by which the acreditante undertakes to make funds available or to extend credit through successive operations up to a maximum authorised limit.

The Contrato de Apertura de Crédito Simple differs from the apertura de crédito en cuenta corriente (revolving credit facility) in that, once drawn, the repaid amounts do not revitalise the available credit — the facility is extinguished upon full repayment of the principal. This characteristic distinguishes it from a línea de crédito revolvente and aligns it more closely with a term loan (préstamo a plazo) under the Código de Comercio (CCom) Article 75, though the legal vehicle remains the apertura de crédito governed by LGTOC Articles 291 through 301.

Financial institutions authorised to extend credit in Mexico include instituciones de crédito (commercial banks and development banks) regulated under the Ley de Instituciones de Crédito (LIC) and supervised by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV); Sofomes E.R. (Sociedades Financieras de Objeto Múltiple Entidades Reguladas) supervised by CNBV under the Ley General de Organizaciones y Actividades Auxiliares del Crédito (LGOAAC); and Sofomes E.N.R. (Entidades No Reguladas) subject only to oversight by CONDUSEF and PROFECO for consumer protection purposes. Banco de México (Banxico) establishes the reference interest rate (Tasa de Referencia) and the TIIE (Tasa de Interés Interbancaria de Equilibrio) which serves as the floating benchmark for variable-rate credit agreements.

All credit operations must comply with the Ley para la Transparencia y Ordenamiento de los Servicios Financieros (LTOSF), which requires disclosure of the Costo Anual Total (CAT) — the annualised total cost of credit expressed as a percentage, encompassing interest, commissions, and other charges — as established by Banco de México Circular 21/2009. The CNBV Disposiciones de Carácter General applicable to instituciones de crédito require that credit agreements state the ordinary interest rate (tasa de interés ordinaria), default interest rate (tasa de interés moratoria), all applicable commissions (comisiones), the amortisation table (tabla de amortización), and the method for calculating prepayment penalties (penalización por pago anticipado) under LTOSF Article 28.

For credit facilities guaranteed by real property (crédito hipotecario o con garantía real), the credit agreement must be formalised before a Notario Público and registered in the Registro Público de la Propiedad y el Comercio (RPPyC) to create enforceable security interests under CCF Articles 2893 through 2943. For unsecured facilities (créditos quirografarios), the acreditado typically issues a pagaré (promissory note) under LGTOC Articles 170 through 174 as an abstract payment obligation that the lender can enforce independently of the underlying credit agreement — this is standard practice in Mexican commercial credit operations.

The CNBV imposes credit risk management requirements on regulated lenders under the Disposiciones de Carácter General aplicables a las instituciones de crédito (CUB — Circular Única de Bancos), which require banks to classify each credit facility by risk level (calificación de cartera), provision adequately for expected losses, and report credit information to the Sociedades de Información Crediticia (SIC — credit bureaus including Buró de Crédito and Círculo de Crédito) under the Ley para Regular las Sociedades de Información Crediticia (LRSIC). The credit classification affects the interest rate offered, collateral requirements, and financial covenants (covenants financieros) included in the apertura de crédito agreement. Development banking institutions such as Nacional Financiera (NAFIN) and Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior (BANCOMEXT) offer first-loss guarantee programs that reduce the credit risk for private lenders extending apertura de crédito facilities to SMEs (empresas PyME) under the Secretaría de Economía's program framework.

A Simple Credit Facility Agreement Mexico is used whenever a financial institution or private lender extends a one-time, non-revolving credit line to a borrower for a specific business or personal purpose. The contract is the standard instrument for working capital loans (créditos de capital de trabajo) provided by commercial banks to empresas (sociedades mercantiles) under LIC Article 65 — typically structured as a 12- to 36-month facility with quarterly or monthly amortisation payments.

The agreement is required when a Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable (SA de CV), Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (S de RL de CV), or persona física con actividad empresarial seeks bank financing for asset acquisition (adquisición de activos fijos), inventory purchases (adquisición de inventario), or bridge financing pending a capital injection. Under the LGTOC Article 291 framework, the credit agreement must be executed before the disbursement to create a valid credit relationship enforceable under Mexican commercial law.

The Contrato de Apertura de Crédito Simple is also the standard vehicle for INFONAVIT-complementary mortgage loans (créditos cofinanciados) where a commercial bank provides the non-INFONAVIT portion of a home purchase loan. In such cases, the bank credit agreement operates alongside the INFONAVIT credit governed by the Ley del INFONAVIT Article 42, with both instruments registered simultaneously in the RPPyC through a single notarial deed.

For agricultural and rural credit extended through FIRA (Fideicomisos Instituidos en Relación con la Agricultura) or Financiera Nacional de Desarrollo Agropecuario, Rural, Forestal y Pesquero (FND), the apertura de crédito simple is used for seasonal crop loans (créditos de avío) and equipment acquisition loans (créditos refaccionarios) under the Ley de Crédito Rural, with the SAGARPA (Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural — SADER) providing guarantee coverage through FONAGA (Fondo Nacional de Garantías).

The agreement must be in place before any LFPIORPI-reportable disbursement — under LFPIORPI Article 17, credit transactions exceeding applicable UMA-based thresholds must be preceded by full KYC and patrimonial verification of the borrower, and the executed credit agreement serves as the transaction record that regulated financial institutions must retain for at least ten years under LFPIORPI Article 19.

The apertura de crédito simple is the required instrument when a startup or SME applies for credit backed by a NAFIN guarantee (garantía NAFIN) or a FOJAL (Fondo Jalisco de Fomento Empresarial) state development fund. In these government-backed lending programs, the credit agreement must follow the template approved by the development bank and include specific reporting and disbursement control provisions required under the program rules (reglas de operación) published annually by the Secretaría de Economía or the applicable state economic development ministry (Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico estatal). The executed agreement, together with the mx-formulario-solicitud-prestamo and mx-declaracion-patrimonial-persona-fisica available on forms-legal.com, forms the complete credit origination package required by Mexican regulated lenders.

A valid Simple Credit Facility Agreement Mexico under LGTOC Article 291 must contain the following essential provisions to be enforceable and to comply with CNBV and LTOSF requirements.

Parties and Legal Capacity: Full legal name, RFC, domicilio fiscal, and evidence of legal capacity for both acreditante (lender) and acreditado (borrower). For institutional lenders, the agreement must cite the Cédula de Autorización issued by CNBV and the name and power of attorney details of the signing representative. For borrowers that are legal entities, the agreement must reference the company's incorporation deed (escritura constitutiva) and the resolutions (actas de asamblea) authorising the credit operation under LGSM Articles 182 or 178.

Credit Amount and Availability Period: The maximum authorised credit amount (monto máximo autorizado) stated in Mexican pesos (MXN) or, for foreign currency credits, in the contractually specified currency with the applicable Banco de México exchange rate mechanism. The availability period (período de disposición) during which the acreditado may draw funds must be clearly defined — typically a single disbursement date or a window of 30 to 90 days.

Interest Rate and CAT: The ordinary interest rate (tasa de interés ordinaria), whether fixed (tasa fija) or variable (tasa variable) referenced to the TIIE published daily by Banco de México plus a stated spread (sobretasa). The default interest rate (tasa de interés moratoria) — typically 1.5 to 2 times the ordinary rate — applicable on overdue amounts. The Costo Anual Total (CAT) expressed as a percentage per the Banco de México Circular methodology, which must be displayed prominently under LTOSF Article 9 and CONDUSEF transparency regulations.

Repayment Schedule (Tabla de Amortización): A complete amortisation table showing each payment date, principal component (abono a capital), interest component (intereses), and outstanding balance. The payment method (pago fijo, pago nivelado, or pago variable) must be specified. Early repayment terms and any applicable prepayment penalties under LTOSF Article 28 must be stated — the law limits prepayment penalties to a maximum of 3% of the prepaid principal for consumer credits.

Collateral and Security (Garantías): Description of all security interests granted by the acreditado — hipoteca (real property mortgage registered in RPPyC per CCF arts. 2893–2943), prenda (pledge of movables or financial assets per CCF art. 2856), fianza (surety bond issued by a CNSF-regulated institution), or aval (personal guarantee by a third party). Each security instrument must be cross-referenced to the applicable registration or formalisation requirements.

Events of Default and Acceleration: The causes of vencimiento anticipado (acceleration) — including payment default exceeding the contractually agreed grace period, material breach of representations, insolvency proceedings (concurso mercantil under the Ley de Concursos Mercantiles — LCM), and breach of financial covenants (covenants financieros) — and the lender's remedies including immediate enforcement of security interests.

Representations and Warranties (Declaraciones y Garantías del Acreditado): Standard representations required by CNBV-regulated lenders include: that the acreditado is duly organised and authorised under the LGSM; that the credit operation has been properly approved by the corporate governing body; that no litigation or regulatory proceedings are pending that could materially affect repayment capacity; that all financial statements provided are accurate and prepared in accordance with Mexican Financial Reporting Standards (NIF — Normas de Información Financiera) issued by the Consejo Mexicano de Normas de Información Financiera (CINIF); and that the acreditado will maintain required insurance coverage on pledged assets throughout the credit term.

Governing Law and CONDUSEF: Explicit statement that the agreement is governed by the LGTOC, LIC, LTOSF, and CCom; that disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Federal District or the applicable state; and that the acreditado may file complaints with the Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros (CONDUSEF) under the Ley de Protección y Defensa al Usuario de Servicios Financieros (LPDUSF). Forms-legal.com provides this Simple Credit Facility Agreement Mexico template as a starting point for structuring commercial credit operations — all credit agreements must be reviewed by a specialist in derecho bancario and mercantil before execution.