On September 4, 2020, Mexico published a new Decree requiring new forms to be used for requests and notices filed with its National Registry of Foreign Investments (“RNIE” by its initials in Spanish) in the Official Journal of the Federation. The new forms mandate the inclusion of more detailed information be provided in quarterly and in the annual RNIE economic reports.
The following are the most significant changes: Important changes to the Quarterly Economic Report Form:
• Copies of financial statements, as well as debtors and creditors’ schedules, must now be provided.
• A new form called “Geographical destination of the investment or origin of the divestment” is now mandatory.
• A “State presence” form requires information regarding the presence of the Mexican company in other states throughout Mexico.
• New specific forms require lists of information requested in the debtor’s and creditors’ schedules, among others, which are mandatory when the accounts reported in the income and expenses module are for more than 20 million pesos.
• All subsidiaries of Mexican holding companies domiciled in Mexico are not required to report changes in their capital accounts. Important changes to the Annual Economic Report Form:
• The new form adds a specific space for companies to describe why they do not have employees, as well as to report jobs located outside the country.
• The new form also requires companies to provide debtors and/or creditors schedules, regardless of the amount of their economic activity.
• The annual form also calls for the filing of the “State presence” form requiring information pertaining to the companies offices or locations in other Mexican states.
• A company that files a consolidated report will be deemed to have complied with the requirement in Article 35 of the Foreign Investment Law with respect to the annual renewal of the registration certificate issued by the RNIE, as well as the companies whose information was included in such consolidated report. Therefore, those companies whose information was consolidated in such report need not individually file the annual report.
The Decree also sets forth the manner in which financial statements information must be provided for both the quarterly reports and annual economic reports. It further provides for the possibility of submitting reports and notices by email and states that the acknowledgment sent by the RNIE via email will be valid evidence of having submitted the required forms and that face-to-face meetings with RNIE officials will not be required. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information may also be filed in physical form, or through the RNIE’s electronic platform.
