Mexican notary publics in the fight against money laundering

Abstract

The main task of the Mexican notary is to provide, at the request of individuals, certainty and security to legal acts and facts through the exercise of public trust, which is characterized by the specialization of its function and the expertise required to perform the activity. However, in modern times, its obligations have been expanded to include assisting national and international authorities in the fight against the crime of money laundering and its provenance, such as drug trafficking, extortion, theft, corruption, embezzlement, tax and investment fraud, terrorism and its financing, among others. Therefore, the main objective of this note is to analyze the mandatory burden on notaries within the national legal framework, which has been established in accordance with globally imposed demands to combat the perpetration of such illegal behaviors. Similarly, the possible penalties that may apply in the event of non-compliance with the applicable provisions shall be examined from a critical and theoretical perspective. The research problem is addressed from a dogmatic and formalist methodology consistent with the subject of study, providing an explanation based on the factual, regulatory, and axiological dimensions.