The landmark authorization signals the Mexican government will likely grant similar licenses to more FinTech companies in the coming months.

By Yvette Valdez, Roderick Branch, and Daniel Gallo Mainero*

Nearly two years after the Mexican government enacted its Financial Technology Institutions Law (FinTech Law), the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) issued its first license on January 22, 2020. The license authorizes NVIO Pagos México, an affiliate of Bitso, a cryptocurrency market, to operate as a financial technology institution under the new law. This landmark authorization signals that the government will likely grant similar licenses to more FinTech companies in the coming months. At least 85 entities have filed license applications with the CNBV, creating more opportunities for investors to leverage the potential of Mexico’s FinTech market within a regulated environment.

Mexico became the first Latin American country to put specific and comprehensive regulation of the financial technology sector in place when it enacted its FinTech Law in March 2018, prompting a positive reaction among investors and FinTech companies with established business models. As with new regulation in any industry, however, certain participants — specifically the majority of FinTech startups — raised questions about how the government would approach implementation and enforcement.