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Uruguay’s Expected Marijuana Legalization to Complicate AML Compliance
By Colby Adams
printA proposed Uruguayan law that would permit and regulate recreational marijuana use poses serious legal and regulatory questions for American banks doing business in the region, according to compliance officers and former U.S. attorneys. Approved July 31 by lawmakers in the country's lower house, the Regulation of Marijuana bill would authorize Uruguayan citizens to grow as many as six plants per month, potentially making Uruguay the first country to explicitly legalize recreational use. Portugal and the Netherlands have previously limited enforcement of their anti-drug laws. The legislation-likely to be adopted into law this year-would also allow clubs of between 15...
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