Casinos temporarily avoid changes in permits in Mexico

«All the permit holders went under protection, I understand that there are 37, I presume that all the companies went under protection. The vast majority achieved provisional suspension and some have achieved definitive suspension," said Miguel Ángel Ochoa, president of the organization. This means that while the protection is being resolved, companies are not obliged to comply with the new regulations until the final ruling, declared the businessman. "We believe that the protection processes should last at least three to four months, and in some cases they can take up to a year, everything depends on the challenges and resources presented to the Ministry of the Interior and those protected," he added.

At the end of last year, the Ministry of the Interior published through the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) the decree by which changes were made to the regulations of the LFJS, among which it stands out that permitting companies will not be able to have major activities. at 15 years old. Between December of last year and the beginning of this month, companies registered with the AIEJA began legal processes in order to obtain protection against the law, Ochoa said in an interview. He explained that although the new regulation does not have an immediate impact, it will be in 2028 when close to 70 percent of the establishments that operate in the country would have to close their operations, because the permits to maintain their activities will not be renewed. Due to the above, the companies that are grouped in the AIEJA will for now pause investments estimated at 10 billion dollars, until the amparo trials proceed definitively in favor of the companies, he added.

"Everyone who wanted to invest in Mexico has practically stopped their investments until the protection is resolved, or obviously if there is a new law," he said. He explained that currently, for casinos and betting houses to legally operate in the country, the law requires that companies have at least 52 percent local investment. He added that the remaining 48 percent of investments to date come from capital of foreign origin, among which resources from Brazil, Spain, the United States, Canada, among others, stand out. As for machine manufacturers, about 98 percent are of foreign origin, from countries such as the United States and Canada, as well as regions in Latin America and Europe, so the protections also contemplate protecting these investments, he said.