Mexico to Review Foreign Investment

Claudia Sheinbaum sent the Senate a bill to amend Mexico’s Foreign Investment Law and establish a review mechanism for foreign investments that exceed 49% of share capital in sectors considered sensitive to national security. The scope includes physical or virtual infrastructure, data processing and storage, digital systems, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy and telecommunications.

What does the reform seek to change?

The proposal would introduce a prior review process for transactions that could put national security at risk. According to material reviewed by local media and specialized firms, it also would allow special authorizations and significant financial penalties for acquisitions in strategic sectors.

Hogan Lovells said the National Foreign Investment Commission, or CNIE, could approve the deal, impose mitigation measures, or block it. The analysis says the review period would be 60 business days, extendable once by 30 business days, and that a lack of decision would count as a denial.

Which sectors would be reviewed?

The initiative covers strategic physical or virtual infrastructure, the processing or storage of personal data, and critical or dual-use technologies. Sectors named by different sources include digital systems, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, defense, energy, telecommunications and access to sensitive information.

EFE added that the CNIE would be expanded to include voting participation from the heads of Defense, the Navy, and Security and Citizen Protection. Under that structure, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Intelligence Center, the tax authority and the financial intelligence unit would take part as permanent guests when national security is involved.

How does this connect to the regulatory debate on AI?

The reform comes as Congress continues to handle artificial intelligence regulation in a fragmented way. Escala Legal found that 85 legislative proposals on AI were introduced from April 2023 through the end of August 2026, and 67 of them were still pending a committee ruling.

That same analysis added that 19 of those proposals seek to amend the Constitution so Congress would have explicit authority to legislate on AI. In the Chamber of Deputies, Carlos G. Mancilla of the PRI also called for a Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Technology Regulation and Digital Ethics to assess ethical, legal, socioeconomic and security impacts.

What other initiatives moved forward on data and identity?

At the same time, a bill was introduced to add a chapter on identity theft to the Federal Penal Code. The text defines the crime as obtaining another person’s personal data by any means to impersonate that identity and gain benefits or commit other crimes.

Diario7 Noticias reported that the proposal carries penalties of two to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 400 days. That report also said the bill was sent to the Justice Committee and that, according to the cited explanatory statement, Mexico had no federal criminal definition for the offense and only 16 states regulated it under different statutes.

Chiapas en Contacto published a similar version of the identity theft proposal, with a focus on the misuse of personal data within the criminal definition. Taken together, the initiatives point to a legislative agenda that crosses foreign investment, national security, cybersecurity and personal data protection.