Company formation in Ecuador

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Important: a non-resident's right to own the company does not automatically grant a right to live, work or manage it from that country. Immigration, work permits, substance, effective management and tax residence are assessed separately.

• —A single-founder or closely held business that needs a limited-liability operating company in Ecuador.
• —Technology, e-commerce, services and regional trade with verifiable operations and local tax setup.
• —A foreign-owned subsidiary after reviewing the power of attorney, shareholder chain, cross-border tax and annual foreign-company filings.

• —A Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (SAS), with one or more individual/legal-person shareholders, a private formation document, flexible governance and limited liability.
• —A Compañía de Responsabilidad Limitada (Cía. Ltda.), a quota-based closely held company with traditional corporate formalities.
• —A Compañía Anónima (S.A.), a traditional share corporation for governance or investment cases not suited to an SAS.
• —A branch of a foreign company, domiciled for an existing overseas company with local authority and filings.

• —An SAS is formed by one or more individual or corporate shareholders and acquires legal personality when entered in the SCVS Companies Register.
• —The formation document/statutes state the name, Ecuadorian domicile, activity, duration, capital/shares, payment terms, shareholders, governance and legal representation.
• —An ordinary SAS has no significant fixed minimum capital; declared capital and its payment schedule must follow law, the statutes and the real plan. Regulated activities have separate requirements.
• —A foreign corporate shareholder provides a current existence certificate, a full ownership list through to natural persons and an Ecuadorian power of attorney where Company Law requires it; documents are apostilled and translated.
• —RUC may be generated automatically from SCVS incorporation; activity, invoicing, municipal/sector permits, employment/social security and UBO/shareholder reporting remain separate operational steps.

• —A passport or other acceptable ID for every founder, director, manager, signatory and ultimate beneficial owner (UBO).
• —Proof of residential address and tax residence; the registry, notary, representative, bank or other reviewer sets the document-validity period.
• —A transparent ownership chart through to natural persons and, for a corporate participant, registry documents, good standing and a corporate resolution approving the investment.
• —A description of the product, markets, counterparties, expected turnover, source of funds and source of wealth, supported by evidence.
• —Name reservation, Ecuadorian domicile, CIIU activities, capital/share table, payment terms, manager/legal representative and governance clauses.
• —The private formation act and statutes, appointments/acceptances, SCVS electronic forms and, where needed, qualified e-signatures or representative authority.
• —For a foreign company: a certificate of legal existence, constitutional documents, ownership chain, corporate resolution and power of attorney, duly apostilled/legalised and translated into Spanish.
• —SRI RUC, fiscal-address and activity data, UBO/shareholder information and source-of-funds evidence for tax and bank files.

1. 01Review activity, founders, licensing, foreign ownership and the tax model; select an SAS, Cía. Ltda., S.A. or branch.
2. 02Reserve the name, agree statutes/capital/governance and prepare foreign documents, the power of attorney, apostille and translation.
3. 03Submit the electronic or assisted SCVS formation package; after entry, complete the company-data update and automatic/manual RUC route.
4. 04Activate SRI obligations, invoicing, accounting, IESS/payroll, municipal/sector permits and UBO/shareholder reporting.
5. 05The bank application follows the registered company, RUC, appointments, shareholder chain, UBO/KYC and operating evidence.

• —Ecuador tax review covers corporate income tax, VAT, withholding, electronic invoicing and monthly/annual SRI returns based on activity and taxpayer status.
• —Dividends, shareholder loans, related parties, cross-border services and foreign management require withholding, transfer-pricing, treaty and tax-residence analysis.
• —An Ecuadorian accountant confirms current rates, filing forms and shareholder/beneficial-owner reports from the live SRI obligations before launch.

General overview, not personal tax or legal advice. Rules are rechecked before filing.

• —A bank reviews SCVS registration, RUC, statutes, appointments, signatories, the complete shareholder/UBO chain and source of funds/source of wealth.
• —Foreign-owned cases need an Ecuador business rationale, address, website, contracts/pipeline, expected currencies and countries, and a practical local contact.
• —A bank may require local signatory presence or video identification and additional foreign-company evidence; automatic RUC does not guarantee account approval.

• —Maintain accounting, corporate books, the shareholder register, resolutions and supporting documents; prepare and file annual financial/company information with SCVS as applicable.
• —File SRI tax, VAT, withholding and information returns and maintain electronic invoicing according to the assigned taxpayer obligations.
• —Foreign corporate shareholders renew and file legal-existence, ownership-list and power-of-attorney information under current SCVS deadlines.
• —Update UBO/shareholder data, appointments, address, capital and activity; maintain IESS/payroll and municipal/sector licences when triggered.

• —An SAS is not available for every financial, insurance, securities or specially regulated activity; licensing and permitted-form checks precede filing.
• —Foreign corporate shareholder compliance is recurring, not one-time: stale existence, ownership or Ecuador-authority documents can affect good standing and onboarding.
• —Incorporation does not conceal ownership or disapply AML/KYC. The registry, tax authority, local professional and financial institutions may obtain and verify UBO information.
• —The place of incorporation does not automatically determine tax residence. Effective management, permanent establishment, CFC, withholding and the owners' personal residence require separate analysis.
• —Company registration does not grant a regulated-activity licence, immigration status or a bank account.

• —Coordination of SCVS electronic filing, foreign-shareholder/power-of-attorney documents, SRI RUC, shareholder/UBO reporting and accounting hand-off.
• —Comparison of entity form, ownership structure, tax links and local-substance requirements before filing.
• —Coordination of the notary or local representative, power of attorney, translations, apostille and the complete corporate file.
• —Preparation of a bank-ready KYB data room and responses to legitimate compliance requests; approval and timing remain with the bank or payment institution.
• —Local-accountant hand-off and a calendar covering tax, UBO, registry, employment and licensing obligations.

The exact Basic scope and all exclusions are listed in the pricing section above. Non-standard structures and external costs are agreed before payment.

Requirements checked on August 9, 2026. Before filing, we recheck rules, forms, fees and restrictions with the registration authority.