Small-Segment Cooperatives Drive Liquidations in Ecuador's COAC Sector — 29 in Process as of March 2026
Sector Overview
Ecuador operates 393 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito (COAC) — credit cooperatives — regulated by the Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria (SEPS).
The sector is stratified by asset size. Segments 4 and 5 — the smallest — hold assets up to USD 5 million each. Together they account for 47% of all COAC entities in Ecuador.
Liquidation Status (March 2026)
Per SEPS data cited by Primicias:
| Segment | Cooperatives in Liquidation |
|---|---|
| Segment 5 | 20 |
| Segment 4 | 9 |
| Total | 29 |
All active liquidation actions are concentrated at segments 4 and 5. Larger-segment cooperatives have not triggered liquidation proceedings.
Drivers of Liquidation
Primicias cites "falta de tecnificación y profesionalización" — lack of technical capacity and professionalization in management — at small entities, compounded by the sector having "fueron creciendo de manera indisciplinada, por inercia del mercado" (growing in an undisciplined way through market inertia).
The read: smaller coops accumulated during years of loose entry standards, with governance capacity that never caught up to the scale of their deposit bases.
Depositor Protection
Critical for depositors: Cosede (deposit insurance) coverage differs sharply by segment.
- Segments 4 and 5: Coverage capped at USD 1,000 per depositor.
- Larger segments operate under meaningfully higher coverage thresholds.
A depositor at a liquidating segment-5 cooperative with a USD 10,000 balance recovers USD 1,000 via Cosede and becomes a creditor for the residual in the liquidation estate.
What to Watch
- Consolidation pressure. SEPS has not signaled a formal consolidation mandate, but attrition at the small end creates de facto consolidation.
- Cosede coverage reform. Deposit insurance parity across segments is a recurring legislative proposal but has not advanced.
- Segment reclassification. Larger depositors at segment-4/5 coops face structural under-insurance; growth-path reclassification to segment 3 is the standard remediation, typically triggered by asset milestones rather than risk factors.
- Funding cost passthrough. Institutions approaching segment-4 thresholds may face higher depositor-acquisition costs as sophisticated savers migrate toward better-insured institutions.
Source: Primicias
Source
Primicias — “Cooperativas pequeñas en Ecuador son las más numerosas, pero también las que más han entrado en liquidación”
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