Mexican regulator takes over running of banks hit by US fentanyl sanctions

The Trump administration has sanctioned three banks for alleged involvement in money laundering tied to fentanyl trafficking

A CiBanco bank logo is pictured at one of its branches, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, Jun 25, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Mexico's banking regulator said on Thursday it will temporarily step in to manage three financial institutions, CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa sanctioned by the US for alleged involvement in money laundering linked to organized crime.

The banking and securities commission said the move was aimed at protecting the banks' creditors and depositors of CIBanco and Intercam Banco.

It comes a day after the US Treasury prohibited certain transactions with the banks, as well as brokerage firm Vector Casa de Bolsa, under new fentanyl-related sanctions. All three firms deny the money laundering allegations.

The sanctions effectively cut the institutions off from the US financial system and could have a significant impact on Mexican banking, given the interconnectedness between lenders and close trade ties with the US, experts said.

Vector and Intercam Banco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CIBanco in a statement said it will collaborate with US and Mexican regulators and that clients' deposits were protected under local law.

Mexico has so far rebuffed the allegations from the US, saying the Treasury has not provided Mexico with proof to back up declaring these institutions "as primary money laundering concerns."

"There is no evidence," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters earlier on Thursday. "We will collaborate and coordinate (with US authorities), but we will not bend to them," she added. "We are no one's piñata."

Mexican authorities, as well as the nation's banking association, have said the blow to the firms would not have a contagion effect on the broader financial system, which remained resilient.

Luis Manuel Perez de Acha, a tax lawyer and money laundering expert in Mexico City, said the move by the regulator means it can put its own people in charge or hire others to assume operations at the banks.

He said the impact of the sanctions - and the takeover by the commission - depends on the fate of the banks. "If two medium-sized banks go under, there will be a systemic effect without a doubt," he said.

Intercam's assets stand around $4 billion, while CIBanco holds some $7 billion and Vector nearly $11 billion, according to the US Treasury, making them medium-sized operations in the country.

Vector's CEO, Edgardo Cantu, told Reuters on Thursday that the institution had not been subpoenaed by US authorities and that it was "fully prepared to provide the information needed to clarify these allegations."