How to Complete an Individual / Company Background Check / Investigation in Ecuador?

Whether you are looking for a future employee, a general manager, a local partner/company to do business with, in Ecuador, thanks to transparency policies and the digitalization of government entities, there is a lot of information on the web that makes conducting a good background check relatively easy if you know where and how to search.

In a world where information is one of the most valuable assets, having local experts to help you get the necessary information about people or companies will give you a great advantage by obtaining accurate and updated information in a short time.

How to complete a Company Background Check / Investigation in Ecuador?

In Ecuador, there are several government entities that force companies to upload their information to the web, which makes this information publicly accessible. Below, you will find the government entities and the information that can be obtained from each of them.

Superintendence of Companies:

This is the authority in corporate matters. On the webpage, you can find the list of shareholders of each company, current and past administrators, financial information such as the balance sheet or profit and loss statements, legal information such as the statutes, its reforms or capital increases and, the certificate of compliance with corporate obligations.

Internal Revenue Service:

Is the authority responsible for reviewing compliance with tax obligations. On the webpage you can find the income tax record caused by the companies (for at least the last 10 years); with the data of the tax caused, you can reverse engineer the formula and find the income of the company; the exit of currencies tax; if the company has fulfilled its tax obligations or if it has outstanding debt and the amount; or, if the company has an agreement to pay pending tax obligations with the IRS.

Judicial Function:

On this page, using the information of the legal representative, you can see the history and the current status of the company’s legal proceedings, either as a defendant or as plaintiffs.

Ecuadorian Social Security Institute:

Is the authority in charge of reviewing compliance with social security obligations. On this page, you can obtain the certificate of whether the company has complied with the social security obligations.

National Customs Service of Ecuador:

In the case of companies that are importers or exporters, on the webpage, you can obtain information on whether or not the companies have outstanding obligations of duties or other taxes.

With the financial, legal, economic, and compliance history of the various obligations of the companies, a fairly accurate first idea about the investigated company can be made. In this way, you can obtain valuable information about the level of seriousness of the company, the way of doing business and the type of people with whom you will deal. This is a fundamental first step to analysing if a due diligence process continues.

How to Complete an Individual Background Check in Ecuador?

If the intention is to search the background of a person individually, there is also a lot of relevant information that can be accessed online. In the case of employees, several certificates and carnets can be requested without violating labour rights.

Below is the information that can be obtained in each entity and the documents that can be requested from a future employee.

Superintendence of Companies:

On this page, you can find information about the companies in which the person is a shareholder. It can also be found if the person is or has been an administrator (President or General Manager) of an Ecuadorian company or agent of a foreign company domiciled in Ecuador.

Internal Revenue Service:

Like companies, you can find the income tax caused by natural persons, the tax on the exit of currencies and if the person maintains pending tax obligations with the SRI and the amount thereof.

Judicial Function:

On this page, you can find the history and status of the legal proceedings that natural persons have, either as plaintiffs or defendants.

Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security

From this page, natural persons can get their own work history. This is information that can be requested for a future employee or manager without disrespecting any labour law.

National Secretariat of Higher Education Science and Technology

On this page, you can check if a person has a higher education degree, either in Ecuador or if the foreign qualification is registered and validated in Ecuador.

Additional Information

Labor Certificate:

In Ecuador, all workers have the right to have their employers give them a labour certificate stating at least the employee’s position, duties and date of commencement of work. This certificate can be requested from future workers without a problem.

Personal or Professional References:

It is common for future employers to request these references and doing so does not contravene any labour law.

Professional Card:

In some professions such as law or accounting, to be able to practice the profession, you must have a card. Asking for your card for this type of work is legal.

Special considerations:

In Ecuador, the constitution and the laws are very strict in terms of avoiding discrimination. For this reason, when looking for candidates, great care should be taken not to request sensitive information that could be viewed as discrimination. In this sense, you should avoid asking for a certificate of criminal background or photographs for example. Similarly, one should not include gender or age limitations in job advertisements.

Are you Interested in Completing a Background Check For Your Next Partner/Employee in Ecuador?

The economy in Ecuador is growing and the government has shown clear intentions to open up to the world and attract foreign investment. This makes Ecuador a very attractive location to do business. A good alternative to establishing in Ecuador is through association with a local company. Another good option is to create a new company in Ecuador and hire a team of Ecuadorians to help you grow your business in the country.

If you have any questions about how to conduct an adequate background check in Ecuador please contact us now, our team has the experience and professionalism necessary to help you with your business needs in Ecuador. 

Watch the following video for more information on how to form a company in Ecuador!