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Mexico: Head of COFECE called to appear before Senate

By  |  February 19, 2019
Mexican enator from ruling party MORENA, Cruz Pérez, along with other members of his caucus, have called the President of the Federal Commission of Economic Competition (COFECE), Alejandra Palacios, to question her actions in relation to an article written by the official titled “Direct Awards: The Case of Banco Azteca”, as well as regarding the recent approval by the regulator of the merger agreement between Disney and Fox.

The document points out doubts that members of this party have regarding the decision to approve the merger of the entertainment giants, which “has little chance of affecting economic competition,” according to COFECE’s analysis. However, lawmakers point out that the merger would have Disney control up to 73% of sports transmissions in Mexico. MORENA has said that they will not rule out the possibility of requesting Palacio’s dismissal, should they find a lack of impartiality or serious flaws in her actions.

In this regard, COFECE explained that the issue of sports content does not fall on this body, but on the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, and involves a market separate from those analyzed by the regulator in its decision. In media interviews, Alejandra Palacios denied any conflict of interest in her decisions, indicating that her intentions in writing the article on Banco Azteca was to argue against direct awards in the management of public programs, which put other banking institutions at a disadvantage and would harm competition.

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