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Mexico: COFECE to pursue 10-year prison terms for cartel involvement

By  |  September 20, 2016

Mexican competition regulator COFECE has announced its decision to begin employing one of the agency’s most powerful, yet seldom used tool against collusion and cartelization – the filing of criminal charges against individuals who broker agreements which harm consumers, a felony punishable with 5-10 years behind bars.

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    The agency has never before filed such an accusation, despite it being established by the Penal Code reforms carried out in 2011. The law allows the agency, led by Dr. Alejandra Palacios, to bring individuals before the Attorney General (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) and accuse them of direct involvement in establishing or running collusion agreements, or for engaging in practices which harm consumers.

    Similar penalties are more often used in other countries around the world. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a show of solidarity, has announced a series of training workshops for PGR and COFECE staff-members intended to provide both government agencies the necessary skills to make the most of this powerful deterrant.

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