Currency exchange centers accused of operating illegal establishments

Currency exchange centers, small establishments that buy and sell currencies worth up to 10,000 dollars, face unfair competition from street vendors that carry out the same activity, according to the association that represents the sector.

While some 700 entities appear in the Registry of Currency Exchange Centers and Money Transmitters of the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) and report their operations to this agency and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), there is another group of establishments that operate outside of regulation.

These are entities that open one day and close the next, that continually change their address, or that are mobile, and generally operate in this way in small communities and on the border with the United States, but the only way to close them is through complaints, said in an interview María del Carmen Guerrero, legal director of the National Association of Currency Exchange Centers and Money Transmitters (Ancec-td), an organization founded in 1996.

Illegal establishments do not identify their users, however, regulated establishments are required to ask for official identification, proof of address, and when the transaction is equivalent to 5 thousand dollars or more, they request proof of income. All the information is stored in their systems so that the financial authorities have it available.

There are currency exchange centers that are not registered and that operate by buying and selling currencies and that the CNBV cannot supervise because they are not part of its registry, but it can make the corresponding complaints. […]The Association has always been in the process of making complaints and doing so in such a way that it is not a risk for the member.he stressed.

At the borders there are people passing by cars that are waiting to cross and they are offering them dollars.Guerrero said.

To be a regularized exchange center supervised by the CNBV, it is necessary to obtain registration and comply with articles 81-A, 81-A bis, 81-B and 95-bis of the General Law on Auxiliary Credit Organizations and Activities (LGOAAC).

Each operation of the exchange centers identified by the CNBV must be recorded in its systems, and each year the entities submit a report prepared by an internal or external auditor also certified by the commission. The document is submitted within the first 60 days following the closing of the calendar year and the CNBV has ordinary, special or investigative supervisory powers over the sector, which are established in the LGOAAC.