¿Es legal el trading de forex en Ecuador?

Retail forex/CFD trading is legal to participate in but sits in a grey area - there is NO specific Ecuadorian legal framework regulating forex/CFD brokers, and no local licence exists or is required (SCVS only regulates domestic securities intermediation via registered casas de valores). Because no Ecuadorian broker is licensed for forex/CFDs, residents necessarily use offshore brokers, unsupervised by Ecuadorian authorities - losses not protected by any local scheme. No product ban on retail CFDs, but SCVS/SB warn that unregistered investment/forex platforms operating locally are unauthorised. Verify authorised participants: SCVS https://www.supercias.gob.ec/portalscvs/ ; Superintendencia de Bancos non-authorised list: https://www.superbancos.gob.ec/bancos/listado-de-entidades-no-autorizadas-a-operar-en-el-pais/

No local regulatory retail leverage cap - Ecuador has no domestic forex/CFD framework. Leverage is set entirely by the offshore broker; caps depend on that broker's own regulator (e.g. ESMA/CySEC-style 30:1 on major FX, or higher under offshore licences). No SCVS/JPRMF-imposed cap exists.

Of the 42 brokers we measure for Ecuador, 12 hold a local licence and the rest onboard residents through a foreign entity. That is not the same as being unregulated — it is a different question, and the broker pages name the entity in each case.

2 of them carry a warning from a regulator somewhere. A warning does not change a computed score here, but it removes the firm from beginner selections.

Yes. The SCVS publishes public alerts naming unauthorised investment and forex-style platforms, and the Superintendencia de Bancos maintains a 'listado de entidades no autorizadas a operar en el pais'. Named SCVS alerts as of 2025: LIBERTEX - SCVS warned (as of 2 September 2025) it lacks authorisation to conduct investment activities in Ecuador; and 'Moneda del Mundo' - SCVS alert (as of October 2025) that it is not authorised. Lists are dynamic; verify current alerts at the SCVS 'Noticias' page and the SB non-authorised-entities list.