Investment Guarantee and Protection

The general principles of no discrimination and equal treatment apply to all investments (article 2 of Law 16,906).

In addition, Uruguay has entered into specific investment protection agreements with a number of countries.

Armenia, Australia, BLEU (Belgium- Luxembourg Economic Union), Canada, Chile, China (People’s Rep.), Czech Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Uruguay meets international standards concerning the protection of intellectual property. The country has enacted specific legislation covering copyrights, patents and trademarks by means of Law 9,739 of 17 December 1937 and the Intellectual Property Law (Law 17,616 of 2003 and its regulations provided by Decree 154/004 of 2004).

Companies may employ foreign workers without limitation except when established in a free trade zone.

There are no exchange controls in Uruguay. Foreign currency can be held without limitation and traded freely with Uruguayan pesos in the foreign exchange market by both individuals and companies. Transactions in foreign currency are facilitated by the free foreign exchange market and a developed financial system, with many international banks having a local presence. Uruguay enacted anti-money laundering legislation in 2004 (Law 17,835 of 2004 and its regulations provided by Decree 355/010 of 2010). A new comprehensive law against money laundering (Law 19,574), approved in December 2017, introduces important changes to and updates of the matter. Among other relevant changes, the Law creates a new anti-money laundering commission, gives more responsibility to professionals and entities to report suspicious operations and includes new money laundering preceding crimes (e.g. tax fraud).

A Bank Law approved in 2014, encourages and requires the use of electronic payments in certain transactions (e.g. payment of services, salaries, capital contributions, etc.).