[April 14, 2009] Mexican senator seeks tougher antitrust laws Tweet MEXICO CITY, Apr 14, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A senator from Mexico's ruling National Action Party (PAN) is promoting a bill to strengthen the country's anti-trust laws, a source in Mexico's Senate told Xinhua on Tuesday. The bill promoted by Santiago Creel would be debated in the Trade and Industrial Development Committee of Mexican Senate as soon as next week. According to the bill, companies which violated the competition law for several times would faced an up to 20 percent of full-year profits fines, the source said. Other terms include a loosening of the criteria for a firm to receive a notification of illegal market concentration. Some big companies of Mexico have been criticized for their monopolistic practices. Mexico's Federal Competition Commission (Cofeco) last year described Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), which has 90 percent of the country's fixed line market and over 80 percent of cellular phones, as exercising "dominance". Earlier this month, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said Mexico was one of 13 nations it may investigate for anti-competitive practices in cable television markets. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]