Mexico’s safety-deposit box system at risk: expert

In the wake of Cancun seizures, he notes that there is no legal regulation of security-box enterprises….

MERIDA — The companies that rent security boxes in the country are not under the regulation of any law and operate in the midst of a legal vacuum, so it is urgent to solve this situation, warns Alberto Rodríguez Rojas, PhD. in banking law and professor at the UNAM.

“This regulation is important to establish clearly the rights and obligations of the people who rent a safe deposit box, and also to the growth of this type of companies in the country. So far, only the security boxes of banks are regulated, but there are no rules in our law that determine a specific regulation of the safe-deposit box service for non-banking companies,” said the specialist.

The expert also added that the current regulation of this service in banks isn’t updated and doesn’t cover the necessary points to guarantee the good development of this activity because the safe box is a service that banks usually offer only to high-income families and without focusing on granting strict security standards, as it is not their main business.

This led to the service of safeguarding items in safety boxes, started to be offered by specialized companies, certified in the management of securities.

The UNAM professor also mentioned that on the controversy surrounding the legal nature of the embargo of 1,500 boxes owned by the company “First National Security” in Cancun, carried out by the SEIDO in cooperation with the PGR, the measure wasn’t illegal because that agency already had obtained a court order issued by a judge of Quintana Roo.

Although the content of the box is strictly confidential and the client does not have to declare what he put in there, the safe-deposit box can be opened by judicial order or if the Tax Administration Service considers it appropriate.

When this occurs, the tenant of the cashier no longer has access to it, because, due to the embargo, the assets are available to the respective judge, who must decide on their fate.

Despite all of the previously mentioned, it is also established that the opening of the boxes must be done in presence of a Public Notary.

Source: www.yucatan.com.mx

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