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Yesterday the Chamber of Deputies announced the approval opinion of the reform bill to regulate subcontracting, which bill was presented at the end of last year by the Federal Executive Branch. The laws that will be affected by the reform are the Federal Labor Act, the Social Security Act, the National Workers Housing Fund Institute Act, the Federal Tax Code, the Income Tax Act (hereinafter, IT) and the Value Added Tax Act (hereinafter, VAT).

On April 8, 2021, the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (the “Commission”) issued the amended Concentration Notification Guidelines (the “Guidelines”)1, which include several topics that were not previously addressed. The purpose of the amendments is to provide more certainty to economic agents on how the Commission analyzes concentrations. Among the most relevant amendments included in the Guidelines are the following:

Today, the president of the Mexican Republic, together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and representatives of the Legislative Branch, announced an agreement with the principal representatives of the business and worker sector with respect to the Bill reforming subcontracting, which was presented at the end of last year.

On March 26, 2021, the Federal Executive Branch sent to the Deputies Chamber a “Bill with draft Decree amending the Hydrocarbons Act”.

As a follow-up to our publication released on February 5, 20211 , recently various acts have been published in the Federal Official Gazette (“DOF”) with a significant impact on the Mexican electricity industry, specifically, (i) the Decree amending provisions of the Electricity Industry Law (“LIE Reform Decree”) and (ii) the Directive Withdrawing the Reliability Policy issued by the Federal Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) in May, 2020 (the “Reliability Policy Withdrawal Directive“).

Yesterday March 10, 2021 the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies concluded the discussion of the Federal Law for the Regulation of Cannabis as part of the process of its legislative approval. Although the chamber approved many of the provisions previously discussed and approved in the Senate, it also included certain important changes that will have to return to the Senate for their discussion and possible approval.

Latin Lawyer has recorded a 38% increase in end-of-year promotions to partner level al Latin America law firms.

Claus Von Wobeser, founding partner, noted that despite the difficulty of 2020, the firm successfully navigated the pandemic by preparing for crisis scenarios. "Our business model has demonstrated resilience. The appointment of new partners and advisors is a testament to the success of our model and will serve to further consolidate our position as a fully client-focused firm," he said.

Von Wobeser y Sierra has announced the growth of its team with the appointment of two partners and five counsel with complementary areas of expertise, furthering the firm´s full-service approach to better serve its clients.

We are proud to share that our firm has been ranked by Chambers and Partners Global 2021 as a “Top Firm”. Chambers and Partners conducts a thorough annual investigation process to identify the top 1% firms, teams and lawyers around the world.

In recent days the following events have impacted the Mexican power industry: (i) on February 1, 2021, the filing before the House of Representatives (Cámara de Diputados) of a “preferential” initiative by the office of the Mexican President (the “Initiative”), which aims to modify the Power Industry Law (“LIE”, for its initials in Spanish) and (ii) the decision of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (“SCJN”) in Constitutional Controversy 89/2020 that the Federal Competition Commission (“COFECE”, for its acronym in Spanish) filed against the Reliability Policy that the Ministry of Energy (“SENER”, for its acronym in Spanish) issued in May of last year.

Today the Directive amending the Protocol for the Legitimation of existing Collective Bargaining Agreements (hereinafter, “the Directive”), was published in the Official Federal Gazette (DOF).

Today the Ministry of Economy published a criterion on its web page related to the minimum level of exports that IMMEX, ALTEX and ECEX companies must comply with and declare every year to maintain their programs. In recognition of the terrible situation the export industry suffered during fiscal year 2020 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their operations, it was determined that the IMMEX, ALTEX and ECEX companies are not obligated to prove that they met the minimum level of exports required during that fiscal year. However, it is clarified that they will still be obligated to present the annual operations report for fiscal year 2020 according to the normal rules.

The Board of the Commission in its ordinary session held on January 26, which was published in the Official Gazette on January 29,1 decided that the initial suspension (December 14 to December 18 and January 11 to January 15, “Initial Suspension”) and the second suspension (January 18 to January 29, “Second Suspension”) of terms will be extended. In this regard and effective as of February 2 of this year, all times and terms will be suspended until February 19, 2021 (“Third Suspension”), excepting those related to merger control procedures and the issuance of opinions or decisions in the granting of licenses, concessions, permits and similar procedures.

Yesterday the Federal Ministry of Health published a directive in the Federal Official Gazette that establishes, as an extraordinary public health action, that the governments of the states and public and private entities of the National Health System may assist in the National Vaccination Policy against the SARS-CoV2 virus, through the direct acquisition of the vaccine with their own resources.

Mexico City, January 2021.- Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C. is delighted to announce that it has bolstered the firm with the appointment of two partners and five counsel with complementary areas of expertise, in furtherance of our full-service approach to better serve our clients.

The Directive creating the permanent National Trade Facilitation Committee (Committee) was published today in the Official Federal Gazette (DOF), the purpose of which is to coordinate the Federal Public Administration for the adequate design, execution and evaluation of the strategies for facilitating the international trade of merchandise.

On March 4, 2021, communications platform WhatsApp announced certain changes to its terms and conditions of use that would affect more than two billion registered users, and whose acceptance as of February 8 would be a prerequisite to continue using its messenger service.

On January 18, 2021, the Energy Regu­latory Commission (“CRE”) published in the Federal Official Gazette (“DOF”) the “Ruling number A / 001/2021 which declares the suspension of legal terms and proceedings carried out before the Energy Regulatory Com­mission as a measure to prevent and combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus". ("Ruling").

The Regulation of the General Health Act regarding Health Control for the Production, Research and Medical Use of Cannabis and its Pharmacological Derivatives was published today in the Official Federal Gazette and its purpose is to identify and regulate the activities involving cannabis that are considered permitted because they are for a medical use.