Fully Dollarised
Ecuador replaced the sucre with the US dollar as legal tender and has operated without a national currency since. Invoices, judgments, settlements and bank balances are all in dollars.
For a foreign creditor this removes the entire currency dimension: no exchange erosion during proceedings, no allocation queue, no conversion discount. A dollar judgment is a dollar recovery, transferable through ordinary banking. Across Latin America that is a genuine structural advantage and it materially changes which claims are worth pursuing.
COGEP and Oral Hearings
Ecuador's COGEP procedural code replaced a written system with oral hearings, concentrating evidence and argument into scheduled sessions before a judge. Timetables shortened considerably as a result.
Where the claim rests on a título ejecutivo - a promissory note, a conformed invoice or comparable instrument - executive proceedings are available with attachment ordered early and the debtor's defences confined. Where no such instrument exists, ordinary proceedings apply under the same oral framework.
Export Chains
Ecuador's non-oil export economy is built on shrimp, bananas, flowers and cocoa, with Guayaquil as the commercial and port centre. Suppliers into those chains - packaging, feed, agrochemicals, cold chain equipment - form a large share of foreign creditor exposure.
Those chains are seasonal and price-sensitive, and a producer's ability to pay tracks commodity cycles more than its own management. Where a debtor is a producer rather than a trader, timing a settlement to the harvest or shipping cycle achieves more than escalating against a low point in it.
Prescription by Instrument
Prescription depends on the nature of the obligation and the document relied on, with executive actions on instruments subject to shorter periods than ordinary contractual claims. The familiar regional pattern applies: an instrument left unenforced may lose its executive character while the underlying claim survives by a slower route.
How Long Does an Ecuadorian Claim Take?
| Stage | Typical Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Formal demand Written demand in Spanish, negotiation | 2–5 weeks | Low |
| Executive proceedings Where a título ejecutivo exists | 6–14 months | Medium |
| Ordinary oral proceedings Where none does | 1–2 years | High |
| Enforcement Attachment and realisation | 4–10 months | Medium |
How Does SXB Global Handle an Ecuadorian Case?
We assess the documentary position and, where the debtor is in an export chain, the commodity cycle behind it. Because there is no currency problem to engineer around, an Ecuadorian file comes down to whether the claim is good and the debtor can pay - which is a simpler analysis than most in the region. Where legal proceedings become appropriate, SXB Global coordinates the instruction of appropriately authorised local counsel. Legal services are provided by the relevant independent legal professionals.