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Strict compliance with legal and ethical standards is a requirement for all companies today. To that end, each company must develop a culture of prevention through a regulatory compliance program, known as “compliance”. Compliance applies to all actions, relationships and procedures of the company and, therefore, all actions of managers and employees must be subject to this culture.

In today´s globalized economy, it is necessary for countries to provide a legal framework that allows companies to conduct their businesses in the jurisdiction that is most convenient to their interests. The re-domiciliation of a company, that is, the transfer of the registered office to a foreign country while maintaining its legal personality and therefore its assets, rights and obligations, allows it to fulfill this purpose.

The most frequent criticisms to the Commercial Code (C. Com.) might be over-regulation, lack of dissemination and discussion. Composed of 1348 articles, 3 general provisions, 1 transitional provision, 5 derogatory provisions and 1 final provision, the Commercial Code (C. Com.) entered into force on May 29, 2019. This was the awakening of a new set of norms that regulate a significant portion of the commercial activity in Ecuador.

The arrival of COVID-19, cataloged as a global pandemic, and the measures that Governments have adopted to mitigate its effects, have brought a deep economic crisis that affects directly both employers and workers.

Rights in trade names are acquired through their use; therefore, the registration of these before the Ecuadorian IP Office, or SENADI according to its official name and acronym, is merely declarative. There is currently a tendency to deny trademark registration based on already registered trade names, even if their use has not been demonstrated. This practice forces the applicant to file administrative or judicial challenges to try to remedy the situation.

CorralRosales successfully represented Pfizer in proceedings where six people involved in the counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals were handed prison sentences, the largest group of people in Ecuador to be sentenced for being part of an illicit distribution network.

The Superintendence of Companies, Securities and Insurance through resolution number SCVS-INC-DNCDN-2019-0021 published in the Official Registry number 107 of December 24, 2019 issued the instructions for the operation of the Commercial Companies of Benefit and Collective Interest. Below, we summarize its most relevant aspects:

The Ecuadorian Standardization Service (INEN) is part of the Ecuadorian Quality System and plays an important role in regulation, standardization and metrology. It also participates in administrative proceedings carried out by the Sub-Secretary of Quality for infringements.

The territory of the Republic of Ecuador is predominantly Spanish speaking. Amerindian languages are also widely spoken, particularly provincially, but their use is gradually diminishing. Despite the dominance of Spanish in Ecuador, the English language is everywhere, and its influence could be said to be growing.

Below we will analyse the Law for Simplification and Progressivity of the Tax Regime published on December 31, 2019 in the Supplement of the Official Registry 111, amended the Internal Tax Regime Law.

In the 1st Supplement of the Official Gazette No. 107 of December 24, 2019, the Reform of the Criminal Law was published, which will enter into force in June 21, 2020. Included among the reforms, is the decriminalization of possession of drugs that contain cannabis or derivatives as their active ingredient for therapeutic, palliative or medicinal ends, or for the practice of alternative medicine.