On 6 July 2009, Ecuador submitted to the World Bank a written notice of its denunciation of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention). In accordance with Article 71 of the ICSID Convention, the denunciation will take effect six months after the receipt of Ecuador’s notice, therefore on 7 January 2010. The notice is the latest in a series of steps taken by Ecuador towards withdrawal from the ICSID Convention that began in September 2008, when Ecuador's constitution was amended to prohibit the ceding of "sovereign jurisdiction" in disputes with private companies before international tribunals. On 12 June 2009, Ecuador's legislature voted to denounce the Convention, and on 2 July, President Rafael Correa signed Executive Order No. 1823, the final domestic act required for denunciation of the Convention.

In recent years, President Correa has taken an increasingly aggressive position towards foreign companies operating in certain business sectors in Ecuador, including oil and mining firms. In October 2007, he issued a decree providing for an increase in taxes on oil companies, followed by a formal notice from Ecuador to ICSID purporting to restrict ICSID arbitration of claims relating to the energy and mining sectors. Subsequently, in March 2008, President Correa announced that Ecuador would withdraw from a number of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) that it had entered into with other developing states, including El Salvador and Paraguay. More recently, he threatened to expel from Ecuador any foreign companies that initiated arbitration proceedings against the state.

Ecuador’s actions are similar to those of other states in the region, including Bolivia, which withdrew from ICSID in 2007, and Venezuela, which has threatened to withdraw from ICSID and to denounce certain BITs. Ecuador has expressed support for the formation of an alternative forum for investment arbitration, to be based in South America.