“Fines and Compensation for Damages in the Mexican Competition Regime” (Pavón-Villamayor, December 2009)

The “Mexican Network on Competition and Regulation” has recently released a policy brief on the current status (and prospects of reform) of antitrust fines and compensation for damages in Mexico. The document emphasises the policy relevance of increasing the maximum level of fines that the Mexican Competition Commission can impose for antitrust violations. On the issue of compensation for damages, the policy brief highlights the importance of expanding the current coverage of the system of class actions in Mexico. The document concludes by proposing a reform agenda that involves three successive stages, namely: (i) increasing the maximum level of fines that the Mexican authorities can currently impose for antitrust violations; (ii) implementing a dual system of fines: one designed to generate enough ‘deterrence’ effects on anticompetitive conduct and one designed to recover the amount of illicit gains; and (iii) decentralizing the system of fines based on damage proportionality (illicit gains recovery) in order to pave the way for the implementation of a private system of damage compensation for antitrust violations.

The policy brief (in Spanish only) can be consulted here.