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Mexico’s banking and stocks regulator has fined three financial institutions that were targeted last month with novel U.S. sanctions for allegedly helping to move money for drug cartels.
The Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores said it fined commercial banks CIBanco and Intercam as well as brokerage firm Vector. CIBanco and Intercam were penalized for alleged failures to prevent money laundering, while Vector was fined over a number of alleged regulatory offenses.
The CNBV noted the fines in a database listing its recent enforcement actions, without issuing a press release. The fines total about 185 million pesos, equivalent to about $9.8 million. The three institutions didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network didn’t respond to a request for comment on the Mexican fines. CNBV imposed the fines over two days, on the same day and the day after FinCEN announced its action, according to the database.
Scrambling
Mexico has been scrambling to shore up confidence in its financial system following the U.S. announcement last month that U.S. banks and other entities would be barred from moving money to and from the three Mexican institutions.
The Trump administration’s June order, a first under the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, stunned some financial industry observers and prompted Mexico’s government to seize control of the targeted institutions.
Mexico’s government said after seizing control that it was still confident in the resilience of the country’s financial system and that it intended to ensure regulatory compliance.
FinCEN last week extended a deadline for when the sanctions against the three financial institutions come into effect.
The order will now go into effect on Sept. 4, 2025, FinCEN said. Mexico’s finance ministry said the deadline extension came after dialogue between Mexico’s government and U.S. financial authorities.
FinCEN said last week that the three targeted institutions “played vital roles in facilitating money laundering activities.” The extended deadline, though, will allow banks under U.S. jurisdiction time to implement new procedures to comply with its earlier order, FinCEN said.
FinCEN also noted Mexico’s government had undertaken “significant measures” to address its concerns.
“In FinCEN’s view, these steps…reflect a commitment to addressing financial integrity risks,” the agency said. “FinCEN will continue to monitor and to coordinate closely with Mexican authorities to ensure sustained progress.”
Novel action
The Mexican institutions were the first designated as “money-laundering concerns” under the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a law giving U.S. law enforcement a range of new powers to take on fentanyl trafficking.
In addition to targeting cartels directly, the law also gives the Treasury Department new powers to combat fentanyl-related money laundering. Unlike more conventional sanctions implemented by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the measures announced last month don’t require U.S. institutions to freeze funds or block transactions.
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