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Asobanca says Ecuador’s private banks will keep major service channels available during the June 26 national holiday. Branches, digital banking, ATMs and non-bank correspondents are expected to operate.
The National Assembly approved a law making financial education mandatory across all levels of Ecuador's education system, from early childhood to university. The curriculum will cover electronic fraud prevention, safe digital platform use, and AI literacy. Revolución Ciudadana voted against despite one legislator calling it 'objective and technical.'
The FBI opened a permanent office at the U.S. Embassy in Quito on March 12, assigning a full-time agent to coordinate joint investigations targeting drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering. Ecuador simultaneously created a new National Police unit to work alongside the bureau.
Ecuador has signed a comprehensive trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates worth an estimated $3 billion, eliminating tariffs on over 96% of goods traded between the two countries. The deal opens Middle Eastern markets to Ecuadorian agriculture and positions Ecuador as a gateway to Latin America for Gulf investors.
Informal moneylenders continue to charge usurious interest rates in Loja’s market economy despite government programs offering subsidized microloans — a problem that traps local vendors in debt cycles and affects the cost of goods for everyone, expats included.
Everything expats need to know for the February 14-17 long weekend: tourism VAT drops from 15% to 8%, all bank branches close for four days, three highways are completely shut from landslides, domestic workers get double pay, and nearly 47,000 police officers are on the streets.
