ECUADOR Trends and Developments Contributed by: Félix Reyes, Lorena Barrazueta, Jorge Sicouret Zea and Karla Condo, Coronel & Pérez
Coronel & Pérez 9 de Octubre y Malecón Edificio La Previsora, Piso 24 Guayaquil Ecuador Av de los Shyris No N35-174 y Suecia Edificio Renazzo Plaza Quito Ecuador Tel: +593 4 3519 900 Email: marosemena@coronelyperez.com Web: www.coronelyperez.com
Ecuador: A Booming Latin-American Economy Despite a challenging political environment and an economy still emerging from recent security and energy crises, Ecuador demonstrated signs of recov - ery across key strategic areas during 2025: corporate restructuring, capital market activity, and international repositioning through new bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Together, these developments reflect a market that, while politically tense, remains active. Perspectives on the Ecuadorean stock market With most local companies being unlisted, Ecuador’s stock market is modest compared to the rest of the region. There are two stock exchanges – in Quito and Guayaquil – which together list fewer than 100 companies. A large proportion of Ecuadorian busi - nesses are family‑owned and privately held, and are often characterised by less formal corporate govern - ance frameworks and highly concentrated ownership structures. Consequently, most transactions contin - ue to take place through private negotiations rather than public market operations, limiting the depth and breadth typically seen in more mature capital markets. In contrast, Ecuadorean local debt markets experi - enced one of their strongest years in 2025, reaching USD18.224 billion, representing a 15.7% year‑on‑year increase and an additional USD2.472 billion compared with 2024. Market activity remained overwhelmingly concentrated in fixed‑income instruments, which
accounted for more than 99% of all securities traded. Within this category: • government bonds rose by USD1.142 billion; • Treasury notes increased by USD1.070 billion; • certificates of investment expanded by USD611 million; and • corporate obligations grew by USD423 million. According to figures published by the Bolsa de Valores de Quito (BVQ), these results reflect a gradu - ally more sophisticated market environment in which both public and private debt issuers increasingly rely on securities as a financing mechanism, supported by improved liquidity conditions and growing investor confidence. Political panorama and international relations Daniel Noboa entered the 2025 electoral cycle seeking his first full constitutional mandate, following his unex - pected rise to the presidency in 2023 – when he was elected to complete the term left vacant after Presi - dent Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assem - bly under the muerte cruzada mechanism. General elections were held on 9 February 2025, and, as no candidate secured an outright majority, a runoff took place on 13 April 2025. In that second round, Noboa won 55.63% of the vote, defeating his opponent and securing his first complete four‑year term, set to run until 2029.
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