Because nothing says “financial transparency” like an express intervention
Oh, what a surprise: the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) decided that CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa needed a management “change of look.” Reason? Nothing important, just the small detail that the US Treasury Department accused them of laundering money for the most famous cartels in Mexico. But don’t worry, this is totally coincidental and has nothing to do with the fact that the gringo sanctions came out just a day before. Of course not.
The art of strategic collaboration (when you get caught)
CIBanco, with its modest 143,000 million pesos in assets, quickly came out to say that it will collaborate “at all times” with the authorities. What nobility! Although one wonders: why did they wait until their accounts were frozen to become so cooperative? Of course, they assure that their clients’ savings are very protected, as if that would calm anyone who discovers that their bank could be the Western Union of organized crime.
Meanwhile, Vector, owned by tycoon Alfonso Romo, received its dose of “specialized supervision.” Because nothing inspires more confidence than a brokerage house handling drug money while its owner boasts of being an exemplary entrepreneur. Could it be that in his next pitch he will say: “Invest with us, even the cartels do it!”?
Sheinbaum and the art of creative defense
President Claudia Sheinbaum, in a plot twist worthy of a soap opera, came out to defend the Mexican financial system because, according to her, U.S. He has not shown them proof. “They are just normal transfers between Chinese and Mexican companies,” he said, as if moving money in industrial quantities was the same as paying for Uber. Of course, the Mexican authorities did find administrative faults (fined 134 million pesos, a joke for these amounts). Missing or features of the system?
And to close with a flourish, the Association of Banks of Mexico declared that this is not a systemic risk. Thank goodness! Because what would happen to us if the banks that launder money for drug traffickers affected financial stability. That would be serious!
Moral? If your bank appears on a money laundering list, it may be time to reconsider your savings strategy. Or at least, to ask yourself: “What kind of crime novel did I get into?”.
Are you surprised? Share this gem of an alternative reality and continue exploring how money moves the world… and drug traffickers too.




