Mexican Banks

Other than not liking the fees associated with my accounts, I have never had a problem with my banks here. I have dollar accounts and peso accounts both personal and business and they are handled professionally. I currently bank at BBVA Bancomer and they have made things easier by going to almost a full internet platform except for deposits. I had an account with Banamex for a few years and didn't like them at all - it seemed they were always behind the times. I have a Mexican corporation and I develop properties and never once had my assets seized or ever threatened. I am fully involved in my business and not just leaving it up to a bank manager to handle out of convenience. Nobody has access to my accounts except me.

Remember that CITIBANK got fined a few million in Mexico for laundering money, so banks are not inmune from corruption, favorite neese no 2 her husband is the second big wigg at the bolsa de valores in Mexico City.

And Maidof's and piramid investment deals can happen in big banks and investment intitutes any where in Latin America, I tried to read the original article all I got was some dubious subscription add so I was not able to read it, I do not respond to those adds at all.

So be aware of investments that are some times to good to be true, greed can also play into someone investing into bad deals.

So invest your money wiselly, hard come easy go.

navegator

We're not talking about sketchy individuals as you're mentioning. We're talking about banks and institutions that are registered with the National Banking and Trade Commission (Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores).

These are major banking institutions that also control and invest for our AFORES (401k) plans. Major corporations such as Cemex, Gruma (Maseca, Mission Foods), Sigma (refrigerated meats and food products) multinationals all invest in banks such as Banorte, BBVA, Santander Scotia, Banamex/CitiBank. These are not fly-by-night operations but banks that support the 15th largest economy in the world.

Anyone who works in these areas has a degree including a Master or two, and highly trained in Finance.

Investing in Mexico can be tricky, a lawyer is Abogado and then there is the word "licenciado" this is also used to denote a lawyer who practices law and it is also someone that has a licenciatura, it can be in liberal arts or other line of studies but not Law.

Some individuals will use the abbreviation LIC in front of the name,
that does not mean that they are lawyers that practice law it just sounds fancy.

Years ago it is was difficult for foreigners to purchase land in Mexico, specially on the coasts, as in Acapulco and further North so developers would place the property in the name of the company selling the property in a legitimate way in other words the foreigner has documentation that he or she has rights to the property, I do not know if those laws have changed or not.

Then we come to the "presta nombres" (name lenders) this are individuals that will place the property in their name only and the foreigner has absolutely no right at all since there are no documents or they are false and worthless that the individual that invested has to prove the transaction.

Another scheme was used South of Ensenada some years ago, a supposed licenciado sold land to some Americans, they built the houses to enjoy in the retirement years, the land was part of an ejido and when the owner of the ejido passed away the surviving family decided to construct some houses.

Ejidos can not be sold to regular persons other the family or other ejidatarios, and much less foreigners, there was a big brouhaha about this in the courts and eventually the persons that had invested in this project lost everything.

If investing in Mexico one has to check the individual that claims to be a "licenciado" the person might have a licenciatura en letras, this does not mean that they are lawyers they might just be presta nombres or just outright scammers and there are plenty of those.

There is a Bar association in Mexico and each State has a branch accessible via the internet.

Another item that one has to be very careful is with what is called a "fideycomiso" that can get someone in trouble with the law.

Me I am not smart enough to invest in the stock market, so I would rather loose my money in Vegas.

navegator

I read the articles, did more research and learned more. To me, it still boils down to living in a country different than the one you were raised in. Being aware of what could possibly happen and trying to know as much as possible before making important decisions.

We moved to Mexico 3 years ago, permanently, and are so glad we did. With the help of people like qtla9111 we have had our questions answered about things like banking, handling money, buying and selling vehicles, and so far have done fine. It's a learning curve.

What happened to the people, couple, persons who wrote the Op/Ed piece was horrible. All of it.

It would be great if we could have a real discussion about this topic without getting, "over the top," meaning too political, too anti-Mexico, name calling and not being reasonable human beings.

I, personally would love to learn more about how to best conduct business here in Mexico and live safely here as we all want to do.

Remember, this is a forum about RV travel in Mexico and South America, so we do have to keep the topic in mind.
Moderator