How to start a business in Ecuador as a foreigner (2026)

Legal framework

Ley de Compañías (codified, last updated 2022) and Ley Orgánica de Emprendimiento e Innovación (2020), administered by the Superintendencia de Compañías, Valores y Seguros (SCVS/SUPERCIAS); tax registration governed by the Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI)

Key points: starting a business in Ecuador

1. 01Foreign ownership rights

   100% foreign equity ownership is allowed in sectors open to private investment without prior authorization or screening. Foreigners receive equal treatment to Ecuadorian nationals; no local partner or national director is legally required.

   state.gov

2. 02Preferred structure: SAS

   The Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (SAS), introduced by the Ley Orgánica de Emprendimiento e Innovación (2020), is the optimal vehicle for foreigners: it permits a single shareholder (individual or legal entity), requires no notary, and can be constituted 100% electronically via the SUPERCIAS portal using an electronic signature (.p12).

   gob.ec appscvsmovil.supercias.gob.ec

3. 03Minimum capital

   There is no statutory minimum paid-in capital for a SAS, incorporation is legally valid from as little as USD $1. Traditional structures (Sociedad Anónima, Cía. Ltda.) require a bank deposit confirming paid-up capital before SUPERCIAS processes the incorporation deed.

   appscvsmovil.supercias.gob.ec gob.ec

4. 04Key formation steps

   Main steps: (1) reserve company name at SUPERCIAS; (2) complete electronic SAS incorporation form and e-sign all documents; (3) SUPERCIAS auto-generates commercial registry inscriptions; (4) obtain RUC (tax ID) from the SRI within 30 days; (5) obtain municipal operating permit (patente). SUPERCIAS incorporation is fee-free and takes 1-2 business days electronically; other modalities take up to 7 business days.

   gob.ec gob.ec sri.gob.ec

5. 05Strategic sector restrictions

   Ecuador's 2008 Constitution reserves strategic sectors, energy, telecommunications, hydrocarbons, water, and biodiversity, for state-owned or state-controlled entities. Private and foreign participation is possible only where specific sectoral laws (Mining Law, Hydrocarbons Law) explicitly delegate it via concession or participation contracts.

   state.gov gob.ec

6. 06Capital exit tax & practical friction

   A 5% Impuesto a la Salida de Divisas (ISD) applies to capital remitted abroad, raising the cost of profit repatriation. The US State Department's 2025 Investment Climate Statement also notes that inconsistent interpretation of regulations and decentralized investment review across ministries increases practical uncertainty for foreign investors.

   state.gov practiceguides.chambers.com

Timeline of decisions

1. 10 Jun 2025Law
   Ley Orgánica de Solidaridad Nacional Restricts SAS and Creates Sports Company Type

   Published in Registro Oficial Suplemento No. 56, this law imposed new prohibitions on simplified joint-stock companies (SAS), barring them from strategic-sector and mining activities, and introduced the Anonymous Sports Company as a new corporate form. The tightening was driven by evidence of criminal infiltration into the SAS structure, which by 2025 represented ~91% of all new incorporations.

   IURISRED

2. 1 Oct 2024Decision · official
   World Bank B-READY 2024 Publishes First Ecuador Business-Entry Assessment

   The World Bank's inaugural Business Ready (B-READY) report, successor to the discontinued Doing Business index, benchmarked Ecuador on Business Entry alongside 49 other economies, becoming the primary international reference for its starting-a-business framework after the prior index was suspended in 2021.

   World Bank B-READY

3. 20 Dec 2023Law
   Ley Orgánica de Eficiencia Económica y Generación de Empleo Reduces New-Business Tax Burden

   Published in the Official Register, this law reformed the Code of Production, Commerce and Investments and introduced tax exemptions for new investments in renewable energy, tourism, and manufacturing, reducing the regulatory and fiscal cost of formal incorporation and the early operating years of new enterprises.

   PBP Law (citing Registro Oficial)

4. 23 May 2023Law
   Presidential Decree-Law on Investment Attraction and Productive Development

   President Lasso issued an executive Decree-Law reforming investment promotion rules and multiple regulatory frameworks, targeting up to USD 30 billion in private capital by 2025 and reducing the administrative friction for investors seeking to establish new businesses in Ecuador.

   PwC Ecuador (citing Registro Oficial)

5. 15 Mar 2023Law · official
   Comprehensive Reform to the Ley de Compañías (RO Suplemento No. 269) Eliminates Notary and Multi-Partner Requirements

   The National Assembly abolished the mandatory two-partner minimum for corporations and limited-liability companies, allowing single-person legal entities, and permitted incorporation via private document rather than a costly public notarial deed, cutting typical notary costs from USD 1,000-1,500 to near-zero for baseline incorporations.

   Superintendencia de Compañías, Valores y Seguros (SCVS)

6. 15 Apr 2021Guidance · official
   SCVS-SRI Integration Enables Instant RUC Issuance on SAS Online Registration

   The SCVS and the tax authority (SRI) automated the simultaneous grant of the company registration number and the taxpayer ID (RUC) for SAS companies incorporated electronically through supercias.gob.ec, collapsing what was previously a separate multi-agency process into a single session that could be completed in a few hours.

   Ecuador Gobierno Electrónico / SCVS

7. 10 Dec 2020Law
   Ley de Modernización a la Ley de Compañías (RO No. 347) Allows Private-Document Incorporation

   This reform to the Companies Act first authorized the use of private documents (without a notary) for company formation and recognized single-person company acts, directly precursing the 2023 comprehensive reform and beginning the dismantling of the decades-old notarial-deed requirement.

   Almeida Guzmán & Asociados (citing RO No. 347)

8. 28 Feb 2020Law · official
   Ley Orgánica de Emprendimiento e Innovación Creates the SAS and National Business Registry

   Published in Registro Oficial Suplemento No. 151, this landmark law created the Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (SAS), formable by a single person with USD 1 minimum capital via a private document registered directly with the SCVS, bypassing both the notary and the Mercantile Registry, and established the National Entrepreneurship Registry (RNE) unlocking preferential financing for qualifying startups.

   Ecuador Gobierno Nacional (gob.ec)

9. 1 Aug 2018Law · official
   Ley Orgánica para el Fomento Productivo, Atracción de Inversiones y Equilibrio Fiscal

   A sweeping economic package that introduced tax-holiday incentives for new productive investments, investment-protection clauses, and simplified administrative procedures for qualifying enterprises, establishing the foundational investment-promotion architecture that subsequent 2020-2023 reforms built upon.

   Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI)

10. 5 Nov 1999Law · official
    Codificación de la Ley de Compañías (RO No. 312), Modern Companies Act Consolidated

    A comprehensive codification published in Registro Oficial No. 312 unified all company types (anonymous/corporation, limited-liability, collective, mixed-economy), mandated Mercantile Registry inscription via public notarial deed, and set minimum capital thresholds, creating the baseline corporate law that governed business formation until the 2020s reform wave.

    SERCOP / Registro Oficial No. 312

11. 15 Feb 1964Law
    Original Ley de Compañías Enacted by Supreme Decree No. 142

    Ecuador's first standalone Companies Act, published in Registro Oficial No. 181, established mandatory notarial-deed incorporation, multi-shareholder minimums, and Mercantile Registry registration as conditions for legal existence, requirements that would govern business formation for over five decades and whose removal became the central thrust of 21st-century reform.

    Derecho Ecuador

Sources

1. 1.state.gov/reports/2025-investment-climate-statements/ecuador
2. 2.gob.ec/scvs/tramites/constitucion-sociedades-acciones-simplificadas
3. 3.appscvsmovil.supercias.gob.ec/guiasUsuarios/images/guias/societario/cons_sas/SAS.pdf
4. 4.gob.ec/scvs/tramites/constitucion-electronica-companias
5. 5.gob.ec/dinarp/tramites/inscripcion-constitucion-companias-sociedades
6. 6.sri.gob.ec/o/sri-portlet-biblioteca-alfresco-internet/descargar/b645988a-9f7f-4b
7. 7.gob.ec/sites/default/files/regulations/2022-10/LEY%20DE%20COMPA%C3%91%C3%8DA
8. 8.worldbank.org/content/dam/sites/b-ready/documents/pdf/economy/2025/ecuador-2025.pdf
9. 9.practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/corporate-tax-2025/ecuador/trends-and-developments