Comparative Analysis of Bankruptcy Legal Provisions from Mexico and the United States: Which Legal System Is More Attractive
![handle is hein.journals/depbcl6 and id is 25 raw text is: Comparative Analysis of Bankruptcy Legal Provisions
from Mexico and the United States: Which
Legal System is More Attractive?
Jonatan Graham-Canedo *
I. INTRODUCTION
This Article identifies procedural and substantive similarities and
differences between Mexico's and the United States's bankruptcy laws
relevant and helpful in determining which of the two insolvency legal
systems is more attractive or successful. The comparative analysis is
pertinent because the United States and Mexico are commercial part-
ners under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
with a current overall economic exchange of over three hundred bil-
lion dollars per year.' Because of this strong commercial relationship,
U.S. companies commonly conduct part of their business in Mexico
and have assets, suppliers, and employees within Mexico.
A significant economic reality connects both countries; thus, when a
transnational company of either nation becomes financially distressed,
it is convenient to recognize insolvency laws of both countries mutu-
ally and to harmonize their procedural and substantive provisions.
Harmonization maximizes the value of the estate for all creditors, and
simplifies procedural and substantive law.2 With harmonization, cross-
border investments would be more secure in the event a company be-
comes economically distressed and has assets located in Mexico and
the United States.3
In 2000, Mexican Federal Congress passed a new insolvency law,
Ley de Concursos Mercantiles (Concursos Law).4 This law governs
* Master of Laws (LL.M) at Harvard Law School, Class 2007; Abogado at Escuela Libre de
Derecho (Mexico City), Class 2004. Comments are welcome at jgrahamcanedo@post.harvard.
edu.
1. This number is the sum of importations and exportations between the United States and
Mexico during 2005. Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geograffa e Informitica [National Insti-
tute of Statistics, Geography, and Information], http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/
rutinas/ept.asp?t=tinfll6&c=9231 (last visited Jan. 2, 2007).
2. Emilie Beavers, Bankruptcy Law Harmonization in the NAFTA Countries: The Case of the
United States and Mexico, 2003 COLUM. Bus. L. REv. 965, 966 (2003).
3. Id.
4. Ley de Concursos Mercantiles [L.C.M.] [Law of Commercial Insolvency], Diario Oficial de
la Federaci6n [D.O.], 12 de Mayo de 2000 (Mex.).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/depbcl6&div=7&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Comparative Analysis of Bankruptcy Legal Provisions from Mexico and the United States: Which Legal System Is More Attractive
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