Mexican Banking Convention Kicks Off in Cancún, Tackling AI, Terrorism Financing

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The 89th Mexican Banking Convention opened Wednesday in Cancún, bringing together financial institutions, authorities, and regulators to discuss sustainable financing, community development, and the launch of the Mexican Banks Foundation under the theme “Innovating Banking, Building the Future.”

The event comes nearly a year after the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) accused two banks and a brokerage house of violations. The Mexican Institute of Finance Executives (IMEF) acknowledged efforts to comply with regulations but highlighted persistent issues in investigations.

Samantha Beltrán Coutura of IMEF’s panel noted that investigations in Mexico still fall short due to management errors. “Significant regulatory modifications have been made, and we await further secondary regulations to strengthen the structure against terrorism financing,” she said. “However, it remains concerning that over 80% of accounts frozen for illicit proceeds investigations are later unfrozen due to investigation errors.”

Victor Manuel Herrera, president of IMEF’s Economic Studies Committee, pointed to a legal gap in terrorism financing regulations. “The final version of the updated law before voting included the term ‘terrorism financing,’ but a senator removed that paragraph for what I assume were political reasons, leaving ambiguity in applicable regulations and sanctions,” he explained. “Mexico has extensive experience in anti-money laundering prevention, but the regulatory and legal framework isn’t suited for terrorism financing, which monitors resource destinations.”

Herrera emphasized that this gap must be corrected in the law, as it could be improperly exploited, and Mexico needs an adequate legal and regulatory framework. IMEF recommended banks gather additional customer information and urged users to provide it for better account management and regulatory compliance.

The convention will feature the signing of a Best Practices Code agreement by ABM President Emilio Romano and cover topics including the future of money, increasing productivity, investment, development in Mexico, and artificial intelligence for digital payments.