Mexican Business Insolvency Law: Reform and Challenge Just Beyond the Border

Rosa is a Mexican attorney, academic and Professor at ITAM University in Mexico City. She coordinated the training courses for the first Mexican courts specializing in business insolvency, and has been engaged by UNCITRAL to update of the UNCITRAL Practice Guide on Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation and to prepare a set of materials for a capacity-building program on the UNCITRAL cross-border insolvency framework.

Maria served federal appellate judgeship withing the Mexican judiciary’s First Circuit (Mexico City), where some of the country’s most complex issues and most of bankruptcy law cases are adjudicated. In 2023, Maria was appointed to serve on the “Pleno Regional”, a federal judiciary body of recent creation, with jurisdiction over 15 Circuits, tasked with uniforming binding precedent. She served until Mexico’s judicial overhaul took place in 2025.   

Mr. Beckham is a Partner with Haynes and Boone, L.L.P. in Houston, Texas. He has more than forty years experience helping a broad spectrum of clients with bankruptcy and insolvency problems. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. and St. Mary’s University School of Law, Mr. Beckham clerked for United States District Judge Halbert O. Woodward in Lubbock, Texas. He was a partner at Kemp, Smith, Duncan and Hammond, LLP in El Paso, Texas for almost twenty years and joined Haynes and Boone, L.L.P. in 1999. He has represented numerous debtors, creditors, counter parties, purchasers and other parties-in-interest in numerous cases over the years including matters with cross-border bankruptcy and insolvency issues in Mexico, Canada, the U.K., Italy, Japan, China the Netherlands and Nigeria. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the American College of Bankruptcy. In 2025, he was elected a Member of the International Insolvency Institute (“III”) for his expertise in international insolvency law and business restructurings. Mr. Beckham is a frequent author and speaker on bankruptcy and insolvency topics, including serving as a Guest Lecturer at The University of Texas School of Law, Southern Methodist University School of Law, Texas Tech University School of Law, South Texas College of Law and the London Business School.

Dario U Oscós is an insolvency & litigator practitioner in Mexico and cross border.
Legal expert in cross border. Qualified to represent the USA in judicial proceedings in Mexico.

He adjudicated the first two cases in the world that recognized and fully enforced US Ch 7 proceedings under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (Xacur and IFS Financial Corporation).

He has concluded a complex RICO action proceeding (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) with cross-border insolvency and criminal implications in US, UK and Mexico.

In Vitro case, representing a dissenting creditor, he litigated the Vitro´s concurso mercantil up to a successfully cross-border final settlement and release of legal actions pending decision. Most notably, the Vitro case (i) gave rose to the most important ever amendments of the Ley de Concursos Mercantiles entered into effect as of January 2014 forbidding subsidiaries, vgr. baring debtor´s related persons, subsidiaries and affiliates voting the plan. (ii) Vitro´s Mexican reorganization plan recognition under US Ch 15, was rejected. It is a most seen case law precedent being used by practitioners and US bankruptcy courts when deciding on Ch 15 foreign recognition plans.