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Insolvency and creditor claims in Uruguay

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Uruguay has a single insolvency procedure (concurso) under Ley 18.387 for companies and individuals carrying on business; directors must file within 30 days of knowing or having to know of insolvency, or face a presumption of culpable insolvency. Once the concurso opens, new executions stop, interest stops running on unsecured claims, creditors must file claims within 60 days, and mortgage and pledge holders are stayed for 120 days. The estate is reorganized by an agreement approved by a majority of unsecured debt, or sold, preferably as a going concern; a private reorganization agreement with 75 percent of unsecured debt is possible before filing.

USD figures use UYU 40.214 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 26 October 2026, retrieved from the BCU quotations service on 27 October 2026. Amounts set in UR use UYU 1,940.77, the latest published UR value (September 2026, Decreto 229/026, IMPO values table); amounts in UI use UYU 6.6792 per UI (BCU, 27 October 2026). Conversions are rounded and for orientation only.

Key facts

Debtor duty to file after knowing of insolvency	30 daysLey 18.387 art. 10, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Term for creditors to file claims	60 daysLey 18.387 art. 94, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Stay on mortgage and pledge enforcement	120 daysLey 18.387 art. 61, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Labour claims general privilege cap per worker	260,000 UILey 18.387 art. 110, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Tax claims privileged if due within	4 yearsLey 18.387 art. 110, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Creditors meeting held within	180 daysLey 18.387 art. 19, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Private reorganization agreement majority of unsecured debt	75 %Ley 18.387 art. 214, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Liabilities above which Montevideo insolvency courts hear cases from other departments	35,000,000 UILey 18.387 art. 12, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Disqualification of directors in a culpable concurso	5 to 20 years yearsLey 18.387 art. 201, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. A concurso may be declared over any insolvent debtor, meaning one unable to meet its obligations, whether an individual carrying on business or a civil or commercial legal person; the State and public bodies are excluded and financial intermediaries follow their own administrative liquidation regime. Insolvency is presumed, among other cases, when liabilities exceed assets, when there are two or more attachments for more than half the attachable assets, when obligations are more than three months overdue, when tax obligations are unpaid for more than a year, or when the business is closed. It is presumed absolutely when the debtor files, when it was declared bankrupt in its home country, or in cases of fraud or absconding.
Cost to do it: Insolvency counsel and, for voluntary filings, the accounting information the law requires with the application.
Example: A Montevideo SRL with supplier invoices more than three months overdue is presumed insolvent and any creditor can ask for its concurso. / A foreign creditor owed US$100,000 (about UYU 4,021,400) by a Uruguayan company whose liabilities exceed its assets can rely on the art. 4 presumption.Ley Nº 18.387 (Insolvency and Business Reorganization), art. 1, 2, 4 and 5, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. The debtor, any creditor (whether or not its claim is due), directors or liquidators and members of the internal control body, partners personally liable, co debtors and guarantors, among others, may request a concurso. The debtor must file within 30 days after it knew or should have known of its insolvency; for legal persons the duty falls on each director, liquidator and member of the internal control body, and for entities that keep accounts, knowledge is presumed absolutely at the date the financial statements were or should have been prepared. Failure to file is a rebuttable presumption of gross fault in the classification of the concurso, and a culpable concurso can lead to disqualification of directors for 5 to 20 years and liability for the deficit.
Cost to do it: Late filing exposes directors personally; filing on time limits that risk.
Example: Directors of a Uruguayan S.A. whose annual statements show negative equity should consider filing within 30 days of their preparation. / Directors of a foreign owned subsidiary that keeps trading while insolvent risk disqualification and being ordered to cover part of a US$2,000,000 deficit (art. 201).Ley Nº 18.387, art. 6, 10, 194 and 201, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. A voluntary concurso (filed by the debtor first) usually leaves the debtor in office with an interventor who co administers, unless assets are insufficient to cover liabilities; a necessary concurso (filed by others) replaces the debtor with a síndico. The judgment calls the creditors' meeting within 180 days, and is registered and published. Specialized Juzgados de Concursos hear all cases in Montevideo and cases elsewhere where liabilities exceed 35,000,000 UI.
Cost to do it: The síndico or interventor is paid from the estate under the fee scale the law provides for (art. 34 and 259).
Example: A Paysandú company with liabilities of 40,000,000 UI (about UYU 267,168,000) has its concurso heard by the Montevideo Juzgados de Concursos. / The 35,000,000 UI threshold equals about UYU 233,772,000, or about US$5,813,199.Ley Nº 18.387, art. 11, 12, 19 and 45, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Once the concurso is declared, no creditor may start an execution for prior claims, and pending executions and attachments are suspended and joined to the concurso; for mortgage and pledge creditors the stay ends 120 days after the declaration, after which they enforce before the concurso judge. Interest stops accruing except on secured claims up to the value of the collateral and on labour claims. Creditors must file their claims for verification within 60 days from the declaration.
Cost to do it: Filing a verification request requires documents proving the claim; foreign documents need apostille and translation.
Example: A bank with a registered mortgage over a debtor's plant waits 120 days and then forecloses before the concurso judge. / A foreign unsecured supplier owed US$250,000 must file its claim within 60 days of the declaration and stops earning contractual interest from that date.Ley Nº 18.387, art. 60, 61, 64 and 94, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Claims rank as specially privileged (registered pledges and mortgages), generally privileged, unsecured or subordinated. General privileges, in order, are: labour claims of any kind accrued up to two years before the declaration, up to 260,000 UI per worker, and social security contributions withheld from workers for the same period (not for directors); national and departmental taxes due up to four years before the declaration; and 50 percent of the unsecured claims of the creditor that requested the concurso, up to 10 percent of total liabilities. Fines and claims of persons specially related to the debtor are subordinated. Uruguayan law treats foreign and local creditors alike, save priority of privileged labour claims over assets in Uruguay and reciprocity.
Cost to do it: Being the creditor that files can lift half of your unsecured claim to privileged rank, within the 10 percent cap.
Example: The labour privilege of 260,000 UI per worker equals about UYU 1,736,592. / A foreign parent's intercompany loan to its Uruguayan subsidiary is subordinated as a claim of a specially related person (art. 111), so it is paid only after outside creditors; 260,000 UI is about US$43,184 per worker.Ley Nº 18.387, art. 108, 109, 110, 111 and 242, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. If liabilities exceeded attachable assets at the declaration, the síndico pursues clawback. Revocable as of right are gratuitous acts in the two years before the declaration (including sales at clearly lower value), new or extended security for pre existing undue debts granted in the six months before, prepayments of undue debts in the six months before, and acceptance of contract termination demands in the six months before. Other acts within two years may be revoked if fraudulent and the counterparty knew or should have known of the insolvency, knowledge being presumed for related persons; ordinary course operations are protected.
Cost to do it: Litigation risk for counterparties; the estate can recover the value of assets no longer held (art. 82).
Example: A guarantee granted by a distressed company four months before its concurso to secure an existing loan not yet due is revocable as of right. / A foreign shareholder repaid US$500,000 of a loan before maturity three months before the concurso may have to return it (art. 81 numeral 3).Ley Nº 18.387, art. 80, 81, 82 and 83, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. A reorganization agreement needs votes from creditors holding at least a majority of unsecured debt; haircuts over 50 percent or terms over ten years need two thirds of the unsecured debt with voting rights, while full payment within two years or immediate payment with a haircut below 25 percent needs only more votes in favour than against, with at least one quarter of unsecured debt. Liquidation follows if no agreement is proposed, accepted, approved or performed, or if a majority of unsecured creditors asks; the sale of the business as a going concern is always attempted first. Before any concurso, a debtor may sign a private reorganization agreement with creditors holding 75 percent of unsecured debt with voting rights and either implement it privately before a notary or ask for court approval.
Cost to do it: Notary involvement for a private agreement; court approval for binding dissenting creditors.
Example: A Montevideo manufacturer agrees with lenders holding 80 percent of its unsecured debt to a three year rescheduling and seeks court approval. / A plan offering a 60 percent haircut on US$10,000,000 of unsecured debt needs approval by two thirds of voting unsecured debt.Ley Nº 18.387, art. 144, 168, 171, 214 and 215, 2008-10-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Rank	Claims	Source
Specially privileged	Registered pledges and mortgages, up to the collateral	art. 109 and 181
General privilege 1	Labour claims of the last 2 years up to 260,000 UI per worker; withheld worker contributions	art. 110.1
General privilege 2	National and departmental taxes due within 4 years	art. 110.2
General privilege 3	50% of the filing creditor's unsecured claim, up to 10% of liabilities	art. 110.3
Unsecured	All other claims, pro rata	art. 184
Subordinated	Fines; claims of specially related persons	art. 111 and 187

Order of payment in a Uruguayan concurso

Worked example

A Uruguayan distributor with UYU 40,000,000 (about US$994,678) of debts stops paying. A foreign supplier owed US$250,000 files for its concurso (art. 6), which is declared necessary, so a síndico takes over (art. 45). Collection suits stop (art. 60); the supplier files its claim within 60 days (art. 94); as filing creditor, half its claim can rank with general privilege up to 10 percent of liabilities (art. 110.3). A payment the distributor made to its parent before maturity five months earlier is revoked (art. 81). The creditors reject a plan, so the síndico seeks a sale of the business as a going concern (art. 171).

Step by step

Monitor debtor presumptions (art. 4): overdue debts over three months, multiple attachments, unpaid taxes.
Decide whether to file: the filing creditor gains a partial privilege (art. 110.3).
After the declaration, file the claim with supporting documents within 60 days (art. 94).
Secured creditors: calendar the 120 day stay and enforce before the concurso judge (art. 61).
Review payments and security received in the prior six months to two years for clawback risk (art. 81 and 82).
Directors: file within 30 days of insolvency to avoid culpable classification (art. 10 and 194).

Common traps

Directors are personally exposed for late filing; knowledge is presumed from the date accounts were or should have been prepared (art. 10).
Shareholder and other related party claims are subordinated (art. 111 and 112).
Interest stops on unsecured claims from the declaration (art. 64).
Financial institutions are not liquidated under this law but under their own regime (art. 2).

Sources

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