An amendment to various Articles of the General Business Corporation Law was published in the Federal Official Gazette on January 24, 2018, which contemplates the following changes:

Since 2012, after an important Human Rights Constitutional reform on 2011, Mexican Federal Courts have had different interpretations and have issued contradictory judgments regarding the priority and ranking of consumer’s credits in bankruptcy proceedings. This debate was resolved by two jurisprudences of the Civil Plenary of the First Circuit, which were published on August 2018.

According to the Federal Constitution (Article 17) and the international trades subscribed by the Mexican government, one of the most sacred human rights that exist nowadays is the right of “access to justice”, which can be translated into several specific rights, including that any jurisdictional authority (id est Court or Tribunal) must provide to all the particulars with an efficient resort to solve their claims effectively.

Founded in 1909, Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V., is the leading glass manufacturer in Mexico, and one of the largest in the world, backed by more than 100 years of experience in the industry. It is headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, and has subsidiaries in Europe and the Americas.

The dueling judicial decisions in Mexico and the United States regarding the proposed restructuring of the Mexican enterprise, Vitro S.A.B., de C.V., and its affiliates (collectively, “Vitro”), and its strong opposition by a group of U.S. noteholders, became must-read thrillers for finance and bankruptcy professionals, as well as distressed-debt investors.

Over the last several years, the number of Chapter 15 filings has continued to grow. One of the most prominent of these bankruptcy filings is the Vitro S.A.B. de C.V. case. When last we reported on theVitro case, the Texas bankruptcy court administering the Chapter 15 case had denied recognition to the Mexican restructuring plan of Vitro because the plan provided third party releases to non-debtors. See Vitro, S.A.B.: Bankruptcy Court Refuses to Recognize Mexican Concurso That Releases Claims Against Non-Debtors” (November 2012).

On January 10, 2014, the Federal Executive Branch of México published in the Official Gazette the legal amendments to México’s Commercial Bankruptcy Law (Ley de Concursos Mercantiles, or LCM), effecting the most comprehensive set of changes to the LCM since its enactment over 13 years ago, and establishing new rules for bankruptcy proceedings in México with the intent to improve the position of creditors dealing with the insolvency of local companies.

Those of us old enough to remember the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (or NAFTA) recall its promise of free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and greater economic prosperity in each of these countries.

* This article was first published by INSOL International on March 16, 2015.

Upholds Extraterritorial Application of 11 U.S.C. § 362 Automatic Stay

Background

The Mexican Insolvency Act provides that a company seeking an insolvency judgment declaration must support its request with documents evidencing its lack of capacity to meet its financial obligations. Section 20 of the Mexican Insolvency Act specifies that the following documents must support the request audited financial statements for the last three years;