As part of the authority’s work to financially include more people migrants, whether they are nationals returnees or foreign refugees in Mexico, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) seeks to make the rules more flexible so that financial institutions can offer more financial services to these people.
In the Regulatory Improvement Commission (Conamer), is the reform project to the provisions of article 115 of the Credit Institutions Law (LIC), in order to promote financial inclusion in migrants, establish the obligations to prevent money laundering with respect to prepaid cards in national currency and the exchange of information between entities on the background of a person, as well as add new inclusion cases to the list of blocked persons to combat the use of front companies.
Mexico receives as returnees national emigrants who return to national territory at the request of the immigration authorities of the country in which they were, some without having the necessary documentation to be identified and be reintegrated into working and economic life “, it can be read within the project arguments.
The document states that on October 18 the changes for the assignment of the Unique Registration Code for temporary population, which is assigned individually and temporarily, for a period not exceeding 365 calendar days, to refugees and returnees.
In this context, it seeks to modify article 115 of the Credit Institutions Law so that financial entities that offer financial services to repatriated migrants or foreign persons with refuge in Mexico, can obtain identification data of the document issued by the Migration’s national institute (INM) that certifies the hospitalization or legal stay of these people, without having to present an additional document such as a passport or passport card.
Hacienda It emphasizes in the document that said resolution would not mean a relaxation in the fulfillment of the other obligations of the entities regarding the prevention of money laundering or terrorist financing.
The project refers to figures from the National Migration Institute, which indicate that from 2015 to date, there has been a significant increase in refugees in Mexico, as well as people who obtain the visitor’s card for humanitarian reasons (TVRH) and of Mexican returnees from the United States.
According to the project, in 2015 there were 524 new refugees registered in the country and from January to September 2021, this figure grew 2.615% to account for 14,230 new people with this condition.
Regarding individuals who obtain the Visiting Card for Humanitarian Reasons (TVRH), in 2015 1,481 people were registered in this condition and only in the first nine months of this year, the figure was 28,420 people. Regarding repatriation, from 2015 to last September, more than 1 million 362,207 people have been repatriated from the United States.
Almost a year ago, controversy was generated by an initiative to reform the Bank of Mexico Law, which would force the central bank to be the buyer of last resort of dollars in cash, under the argument that this would benefit migrants who receive remittances in cash, as well as to people who work in tourist areas who have income from this currency.
The initiative was stopped, with the commitment that the tax authorities would incentivize financial products to serve migrants. In this sense, last May, the Treasury published changes to the regulations so that banks located in municipalities receiving remittances could receive up to 14,000 dollars a month in cash from legal entities.
Modification of prepaid cards
On May 12, the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) published circular 3/2012 in the DOF in order to foresee, within the passive operations of credit institutions, the issuance and offer of prepaid cards denominated in pesos in favor of foreigners who enter the country, in order to expand the range of payment instruments at your disposal, in favor of Mexicans who work in tourist areas.
In this scenario, the Ministry of Finance seeks to apply the provisions established in the matter of prevention of money laundering to these products that financial institutions may offer, in order to comply with the regulation in the sense of monitoring to the operations of purchase and recharge of funds that, individually, people carry out with these means of payment.
Another of the rules provided for in the draft reform of the provisions, goes in the sense of strengthening the legal framework regarding the conformation of the List of Blocked Persons, for which it considers a change in the rule so that those shell companies can be included in said list.
“The assumptions of inclusion and elimination in the List of Blocked Persons are added to those taxpayers referred to in the fourth and sixth paragraphs of article 69-B of the Federal Tax Code, the foregoing in order to prevent the commission of crimes of operations with resources of illicit origin and financing of terrorism ”, it is read in the project that will be published soon in the DOF to be official.
Likewise, in order to strengthen money laundering prevention measures, it is planned to modify the norm so that credit institutions can exchange information regarding the background or known activity of clients or users; statistical information of unusual and 24-hour reports from clients and users; reports of worrisome internal operations and circumstances that are considered when ruling an unusual operation.
kg
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx