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Mexican brokerages are pushing back against a massive government data request that aims to uncover possible tax evasion, a document showed, after the "Panama Papers" cast a spotlight on how the world's rich and famous hide their wealth.
Last month, Reuters reported that Mexico's tax authority, SAT, had asked regulators to make banks and brokerages provide a list of clients that made transactions or investments in over 100 jurisdictions, from Anguilla to the United Kingdom.
Mexico's banking authority gave banks and brokerages 15 working days to meet the request, which was made on April 25. It sought taxpayer names, ID numbers and deposit or withdrawal amounts for transactions from 2012 through March 2016.
In a letter seen by Reuters dated May 23, Efrén del Rosal, director general of the Mexican stockbrokers' association, or AMIB, asked the banking authority CNBV for 60 days to comply and for more clarity on what regulators are after.
"Giving a 15-day deadline to search for information on unspecified transactions made by clients in 103 territories and jurisdictions over four years may be difficult to comply with," del Rosal wrote.
He also suggested that authorities set a threshold for reporting transactions, and create a format to clarify how much detail was needed.
"The scope of the transactions sought is not clear and is open to interpretation, making it difficult to comply and leaving financial institutions in a state of legal uncertainty," he added.
The CNBV said these types of letters from trade groups help authorities better formulate what they are asking for.
"There is no conflict between the associations and (SAT); to the contrary, there is good coordination," the CNBV said.
AMIB said in a statement that it was "working in a coordinated manner with the authorities to establish the best technical terms and the sufficient time to meet" the SAT requirements.
SAT, the tax authority, said it had no comment.
Governments worldwide have stepped up efforts to crack down on tax evasion since early April, when reports based on an 11.5 million-document leak from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca shed light on schemes used by the rich to skirt taxes.
Mexico's SAT is investigating dozens of people mentioned in the "Panama Papers" for possible tax evasion or financial crimes.
