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Interest rate ceiling: usury caps tied to BCU average rates

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Changing

Interest is not freely priced in Uruguay: a loan is usurious when its effective rate exceeds the BCU average rate for its segment by more than 55 percent (below UI 2,000,000) or 90 percent (UI 2,000,000 or more), with higher caps in default. The BCU publishes average rates and ceilings every month for loans agreed from the first of the following month; for a one year peso loan to a medium sized company agreed in November 2026 the cap is 19.8865 percent. Credit between non financial companies above UI 2,000,000 that is not a consumer relationship is outside the law, and a usurious lender loses all interest and charges.

USD figures use UYU 40.210 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026; UI amounts use UYU 6.6803 per UI (BCU, 28 October 2026), except cash limits, which the law converts at the first day of the month: UYU 6.6516 per UI on 1 October 2026 (BCU). Retrieved from the BCU quotations service on 2026-10-28; conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Usury ceiling markup over BCU average, loans below UI 2,000,000	55 %Ley 18.212 art. 11, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Usury ceiling markup over BCU average, loans of UI 2,000,000 or more	90 %Ley 18.212 art. 11, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Default interest ceiling markup, loans below UI 2,000,000	80 %Ley 18.212 art. 11, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Default interest ceiling markup, loans of UI 2,000,000 or more	120 %Ley 18.212 art. 11, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Non financial B2B credit above this amount is outside the usury law	2000000 UILey 18.212 art. 2 E, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Usury ceiling, medium companies, non indexed UYU up to 366 days, from 1 Nov 2026	19.8865 %BCU Comunicación 2026/212, as of 2026-11-01 · in force
Usury ceiling, medium companies, USD up to 366 days, from 1 Nov 2026	8.6025 %BCU Comunicación 2026/212, as of 2026-11-01 · in force
BCU average rate, large companies, non indexed UYU up to 366 days (Jul to Sep 2026)	7.71 %BCU Comunicación 2026/212, as of 2026-11-01 · in force

The rule

1. Ceilings are a markup over BCU averages. For loans and discounted documents where the principal or face value, excluding interest and charges, is below UI 2,000,000, interest is usurious when the effective rate exceeds the BCU average rate for the previous moving quarter for that segment by more than 55 percent; for UI 2,000,000 or more the markup is 90 percent. In default the markups are 80 and 120 percent. Payroll loans are capped at 20 percent and other salary deduction loans at 30 percent above the average. Foreign currency amounts are converted through the US dollar and the UI value when the obligation is agreed.
Cost to do it: No fee; the rule caps pricing. UI 2,000,000 is about UYU 13,360,600 (US$332,271).
Example: A lender pricing a UYU 4,000,000 loan checks the medium company segment ceiling in force for the month the loan is agreed. / UYU 4,000,000 is about US$99,478, well below the UI 2,000,000 threshold, so the 55 percent markup applies.Ley Nº 18.212 (interest rates and usury), as reworded by Ley Nº 19.732 of 28 December 2018, art. 11 (text given by Ley 19.732 art. 22), 2018-12-28 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Large B2B credit is outside the law. The law does not apply to operations between financial intermediaries, BCU operations with supervised entities, Treasury and BCU debt issues, publicly offered securities, or credit between non financial companies that does not arise from a consumer relationship when the credit exceeds UI 2,000,000.
Cost to do it: No ceiling applies to an intercompany or supplier credit above UI 2,000,000 between non financial companies.
Example: A UYU 20,000,000 supplier credit between two Uruguayan manufacturers is not subject to the usury caps. / About US$497,389, above the UI 2,000,000 threshold.Ley Nº 18.212, art. 2, 2007-12-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. The November 2026 table. For the quarter July to September 2026, in force from 1 November 2026, the BCU average for peso (non indexed) loans up to 366 days is 7.71 percent for large companies, 12.83 percent for medium and 21.79 percent for small companies, giving caps of 11.9505, 19.8865 and 33.7745 percent below UI 2,000,000 and 14.649, 24.377 and 41.401 percent at UI 2,000,000 or more. For US dollar loans up to 366 days the averages are 4.86, 5.55 and 6.10 percent, with caps below UI 2,000,000 of 7.533, 8.6025 and 9.455 percent. The October 2026 table (quarter June to August) gave medium companies an average of 12.78 percent and a cap of 19.809 percent.
Cost to do it: No fee; check the table for the month the obligation is agreed.
Example: A one year UYU 4,000,000 loan to a medium sized company agreed in November 2026 may carry at most 19.8865 percent, UYU 795,460 of interest for the year. / About US$19,783 of interest on about US$99,478; a US dollar loan of the same profile is capped at 8.6025 percent.BCU Comunicación Nº 2026/212 (Resolución RR-SSF-2026-682 of 21 October 2026); Recopilación de Normas de Regulación y Control del Sistema Financiero, RNRCSF art. 340, 2026-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: From 1 November 2026 BCU Comunicación 2026/212 replaced Comunicación 2026/188: the medium company peso cap up to 366 days moved from 19.809 to 19.8865 percent.

4. Usury wipes out interest and can be a crime. Once usury is established, the right to collect interest, compensations, commissions, expenses or other charges lapses, except court costs on the surviving principal; charges already collected are deducted from the principal to be enforced, and judges must report the lender to the administrative authority. Taking usurious interest by exploiting a person's need, recklessness or inexperience is punishable by six months of prison to four years of penitentiary.
Cost to do it: Loss of all interest and charges on the loan, plus criminal exposure.
Example: A lender who charged 25 percent on the UYU 4,000,000 loan above can recover only the principal, less the interest already received. / On a loan of about US$99,478 the lender forfeits the whole interest return.Ley Nº 18.212, art. 21 and 22, 2007-12-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Default interest only on overdue amounts, rates stated as effective annual. Only compensatory and default interest may be charged, agreed clearly in the loan documents; default interest applies only to overdue unpaid instalments, not the whole balance, and fixed rates must be expressed as effective annual percentages with at least two decimals.
Cost to do it: Drafting cost only.
Example: If one UYU 100,000 instalment of a UYU 4,000,000 loan is late, default interest runs on UYU 100,000 only. / About US$2,487 of overdue instalment, not the full US$99,478.Ley Nº 18.212, art. 3 and 4, 2007-12-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Segment	Average	Cap below UI 2M (+55%)	Cap UI 2M or more (+90%)
Large companies, UYU non indexed	7.71%	11.9505%	14.649%
Medium companies, UYU non indexed	12.83%	19.8865%	24.377%
Small companies, UYU non indexed	21.79%	33.7745%	41.401%
Large companies, USD	4.86%	7.533%	9.234%
Medium companies, USD	5.55%	8.6025%	10.545%
Small companies, USD	6.10%	9.455%	11.59%

BCU averages and ceilings for company loans up to 366 days, in force from 1 November 2026 (Comunicación 2026/212)

Worked example

A foreign fund lends UYU 4,000,000 (US$99,478) for one year to a medium sized Uruguayan company in November 2026. Ceiling: 19.8865 percent, so up to UYU 795,460 (US$19,783) of interest. A 22 percent rate would be usurious and the fund would lose all interest.
The same fund lends US$500,000 (above UI 2,000,000, about US$332,271) to a large company in US dollars for one year: the cap is 9.234 percent, unless the lender is itself a non financial company and the credit is not a consumer relationship, in which case the law does not apply.

Step by step

Classify the borrower segment (large, medium, small, micro) and the currency and term of the loan.
Convert the principal to UI at the agreement date to see whether it is below or above UI 2,000,000.
Check whether the art. 2 exclusions apply (for example non financial B2B credit above UI 2,000,000).
Read the BCU table in force for the month the loan is agreed (published during the previous month) and compare the effective annual rate including fees.
State fixed rates as effective annual rates with two decimals and limit default interest to overdue instalments.

Common traps

Using the nominal rate: the test is the implicit effective rate including charges, with only limited exclusions such as VAT on interest (Ley 18.212 art. 14 and 15).
Assuming dollar loans are free of caps: the BCU publishes US dollar ceilings too (Comunicación 2026/212).
Charging default interest on the accelerated full balance (Ley 18.212 art. 3).
Relying on the B2B exclusion for a credit of exactly UI 2,000,000 or less: it applies only above that amount (Ley 18.212 art. 2 E).

Sources

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