Thursday, July 10, 2025

López Obrador rejects senators’ initiative to control ratings agencies

President López Obrador and the Morena party’s leader in the Senate said today there will be no attempt by the government to control the operations of ratings agencies in Mexico.

“We are open to international scrutiny in our politics and our economy. Mexico is a free country and we do not have anything to hide; we are in favor of transparency. What the ratings agencies do is their job and we respect that — we are not going to limit their ability to function.”

Senator Ricardo Monreal also told reporters that the measure would not be presented and that fellow Morena Senator Salomón Jara, who argued in its favor yesterday, had accepted the decision.

However, Jara told reporters later that he was going ahead with it. “We have rights as senators to present our own initiatives, our proposals.”

The initiative would give the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) authority to revoke ratings agencies’ permission to operate “when evaluations or qualifications do not adhere to the principles of independence, objectivity, rigor, authenticity, truth, integrity and transparency or attack in a deliberate manner the financial stability of the markets or a business . . . .”

It was triggered by Standard & Poor’s credit rating outlook downgrade on Monday for Pemex, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and many businesses and financial institutions, and another downgrade of Mexico’s credit outlook last Friday.

The president suggested that the agencies take corruption into account as an important factor in the their ratings.

“I believe it would be a good idea for the ratings to include the corruption levels of governments around the world in their evaluations because it’s a variable that distorts everything. A country could have the best economic model comparatively, but if corruption is allowed to reign unchecked in a country, when everything is said and done the economy will not grow and it will trigger a financial crisis.”

He said he believed that his administration’s anti-corruption measures would generate large savings in the economy over the long term as well as restore confidence for investors, regardless of ratings agencies’ scores.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Publimetro (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A small plane flies over the ocean

How the Mexican security minister’s slip of the tongue rankled Salvadoran President Bukele

0
President Bukele took exception after García Harfuch's identified a drug-smuggling plane as coming from El Salvador.
gold bars

Highway robbery near Guadalajara nets 6 million pesos worth of gold and silver

0
Such open-road heists have risen in frequency recently and could pose a threat to potential investors otherwise attracted by nearshoring opportunities.
Security chief Omar García Harfuch, Attorney General Gertz and other Mexian officials sit on a stage in front of a banner reading "National Strategy against Extortion" in spanish

Authorities launch national strategy against extortion to tackle a pernicious and widespread crime

0
The strategy contemplates new laws that would force states to investigate the crime, even when victims are too afraid to make an official report.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity