Estebany Zarazúa, general counsel of Mexico’s newly created National Antitrust Commission in Mexico City, outlined the enforcement priorities and institutional direction of the agency as it transitions from its predecessor, Cofece.
Estebany Zarazúa, general counsel of Mexico’s newly created National Antitrust Commission in Mexico City, outlined the enforcement priorities and institutional direction of the agency as it transitions from its predecessor, Cofece. At an antitrust conference* in Washington, DC, Zarazúa emphasized the redesigned agency is aiming to be more agile and more technically robust, while responding to the structural economic changes reshaping markets across the region.
Zarazúa began by situating Mexico within what he called a wave of “big institutional changes” across Latin America. According to him, these reforms reflect an effort to “respond more effectively to the new economy we’re all facing,” even as agencies safeguard stability and predictability in their procedures.
He noted that competition authorities are seeing “more and more digital cases, more and more use of AI, more and more use of technologies,” but cautioned that Latin American markets remain dominated by traditional sectors.
The challenge ahead, he said, is “to strike a balance between traditional markets and digital markets so we push forward competition in general.”
One significant change introduced in the reform was a more agile merger control regime, according to Zarazúa. Statutory timelines were cut in half, a move he described as a “policy signal” that Mexico wants to foster investment and clear benign transactions quickly. Fines have increased, and the agency has set priority sectors for conduct investigations.
These priorities include labor markets — “because it is a market just as any other market, and you can have competition problems in labor markets” — as well as public procurement, a long‑standing concern for the Mexican government.
The agency is also scrutinizing transversal sectors such as logistics, transportation and energy, whose bottlenecks affect multiple downstream markets.
A major new instrument introduced by the law is the certification of compliance programs. Once guidelines are issued — expected this year — certified programs may serve as a mitigating factor in future investigations.
Zarazúa explained that they’re trying to “hit the sweet spot” in designing the guidelines. Too lax, and compliance becomes “just a paper;” too stringent, and companies will avoid the system altogether.
Questions from the audience targeted whether certification might open a door to audits or intrusive review. Zarazúa replied that these are precisely the questions the authority is struggling with internally and promised they would be addressed in secondary legislation.
— Leniency, class actions —
Mexico has adopted a US‑style system with Type A (pre‑investigation) and Type B (post‑investigation) leniency applications, each carrying different levels of fine reduction. The change comes after years of discussion across the region about declining leniency numbers.
Another major development is the agency’s new role in class actions. The Mexican antitrust authority will “actively pursue class actions” to return compensation to affected consumers, according to Zarazúa. But leniency applicants will be shielded from class actions brought by the authority, though private parties may still sue independently.
Mexico’s class action framework is unique in that the competition authority can represent consumers directly. Zarazúa clarified: “We have a legal basis on which we can bring class actions against companies [by representing] affected consumers.”
Zarazúa called for transparent engagement between companies and the agency. Competition agencies, he stressed, must remain independent and technical, particularly when decisions don’t align with the interests of powerful market actors.
His advice to practitioners was clear: “Come forward early.”
*American Bar Association Antitrust Spring Meeting 2026. Washington, DC. March 25-27, 2026.
Please e-mail editors@mlex.com to contact the editorial staff regarding this story, or to submit the names of lawyers and advisers.