Business
Ley de Compañías with the SAS added in 2020
The Ley de Compañías governs corporate forms, supervised by the Superintendencia de Compañías, Valores y Seguros. Traditional vehicles are the compañía anónima and the compañía limitada; the Ley Orgánica de Emprendimiento of 2020 introduced the sociedad por acciones simplificada (SAS), which can be formed electronically with a single shareholder and no minimum capital.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National, supervised by the Superintendencia de Compañías
- Deadline — SAS: registered directly with the Superintendencia, generally within days
- Deadline — Annual financial statements filed with the Superintendencia by 30 April
Governing law
- Ley de Compañías
- Ley Orgánica de Apoyo Financiero y Desarrollo Empresarial y Emprendimiento2020
- Código de Comercio2019
In practice
The SAS is registered straight into the Superintendencia's registry without a notarial deed or mercantile-registry inscription, which is why it displaced the older forms for new ventures. Ecuador also enacted a wholly new Código de Comercio in 2019, replacing the 1906 text and modernising commercial contracts, electronic documents and negotiable instruments.