Mexico’s Supreme Court Upholds the Financial Intelligence Unit’s Authority to Freeze Bank Accounts and Departs from Prior Jurisprudence

On April 6, 2026, Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, “SCJN”) issued rulings in three landmark cases concerning anti-money laundering (“AML”) and bank account freezing. In these rulings, the SCJN upheld the Financial Intelligence Unit’s authority to place individuals on the blocked persons list where there are sufficient indicative grounds of their involvement in illicit transactions, it was also resolved that bank account freezes may be ordered on the basis of information obtained through both domestic and international channels.

This has a significant impact on Mexico’s AML regulatory framework and underscore the heightened importance of robust internal compliance and Know-Your-Customer (“KYC”) programs to mitigate potential risks arising therefrom — particularly in light of the 2025 amendments to Mexico’s Amparo Law, which eliminated the availability of injunctive relief against bank accounts freezing

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