CONDUSEF issues general regulations on transparency and best practices applicable to Financial Technology Institutions

4 min readJul 17, 2019

On July 9, 2019, The National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (CONDUSEF) published in the Federal Official Gazette ( Diario Oficial de la Federación ) the General Regulations on Transparency and Best Practices applicable to the Financial Technology Institutions (the “General Regulations”).

The General Regulations are intended to regulate the standard form contract, the termination of transactions that have been concluded through the standard form contract, and the updated information regarding amounts, terms and periodicity of the commissions, account statements, transaction statements, and transactions receipts.

The General Regulations also establish rules related to the advertisement of financial services offered by Financial Technology Institutions (“FINTECHs”), the platforms used with their users, and the activities that are considered a deviation from the best practices and uses related to the offering and marketing of financial services by FINTECHs .

In particular, the General Regulations regulate the following:

1. Standard form contract.

The General Regulations define the standard form contract as a unilateral document drafted by the FINTECHs to establish a uniform format with the terms and conditions applicable to the execution of one or more financial transactions performed by the users, in the understanding that the users will not be able to negotiate the established terms and conditions.

In order to formalize a standard form contract, it is necessary to express the consent of the user through an advanced electronic signature or a digital signature.

According to each figure recognized in the Fintech Law (Crowdfunding and electronic wallets) the General Regulations establish the different requirements that should be included in the standard form contract according to the activity that each one preforms.

On the other hand, the General Regulations establish the basis for the acceptance and the notification procedures to modify the standard form contract, as well as for the termination of the agreement.

2. The terms and Conditions for the use of a platform.

The “Terms and Conditions” for the use of platforms, establish they should contain a detailed explanation of the uses and restrictions. Similarly, they should specify the responsibility of the user regarding the access codes, as well as the process to be followed in case of theft or loss.

3. The information about costs and fees.

In connection with the fees/costs of the products and services rendered by FINTECHs, they should publish in the corresponding platforms the concept and the amount or method used for the calculation of each fee charged, as well as each of the events that generate them, specifying their periodicity.

4. Account Statements, Transaction Statements, and Transaction Receipts.

The CONDUSEF requires FINTECHs to issue and make available to users through the platform the transaction receipts, regardless of the mechanism through which the transaction was performed.

In addition to the above, FINTECHs should make available to users their account statements and/or transaction statements as appropriate for the following three (3) periods.

The account statements and/or transaction statements should include the requirements established in the General Regulations.

5. Publicity of the services offered by FINTECHs.

The General Regulations also regulate the characteristics that FINTECHs should comply with, in order to advertise to the general public their services and products.

6. The platforms used by FINTECHs.

The General Regulations establish the requirements that should be fulfilled by the platforms used by FINTECHS to support its transactions. Some of the requirements are:

- General description of the operation;

- Product´s commercial name;

- Company name and logo;

- Contracting requirements, and;

- Denomination of the monetary unit, including virtual assets and geographical coverage.

7. Best practices and uses relative to the offering and marketing of financial transactions and services.

In connection with best practices and uses, the General Regulations establish the different activities that are not considered as best practices and uses regarding the offering and marketing of financial transactions and services.

In conclusion, these regulations were created to set a standard of rules related to supervision, transparency, information and publicity of the products and services offered by the FINTECHs.

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For any information about the Fintech regulation in Mexico, or how they could affect a particular project/client engaging activities within the Mexican Territory, please contact: