Overview
- The presidency sent a 34‑page initiative to the Senate at the end of August to add a national‑security title to the Foreign Investment Law and expand CNIE powers.
- The draft makes the heads of Defense, the Navy and Security voting members of the Comisión Nacional de Inversiones Extranjeras and names the FGR, CNI, SAT and UIF as permanent invited participants with voice but no vote.
- It would require a favorable CNIE resolution for foreign capital to hold more than 49% of a Mexican company when that firm’s asset value exceeds a threshold set by the commission, and it mandates semiannual CNIE reports to Congress.
- The text lists strategic sectors and dual‑use technologies for review — including energy, transport, data storage, communications, mining, aerospace, defense, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and cybersecurity — and proposes fines up to about 23.5 million pesos for transfers that ignore CNIE denials.
- Political reactions split: Senate leaders say the reform will add legal clarity, private analysts warn it could raise regulatory uncertainty and deter investment, and Banxico data showing a sharp Q2 2026 drop in new FDI is cited as a key concern.