LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Lukas-Florian Gilhofer and Mathias Bitschnau, Ospelt & Partner Attorneys at Law Ltd
• warnings; • fines of up to CHF250,000; and • partial or full withdrawal of authorisation to oper - ate. Administrative sanctions imposed by the FMA may apply in addition to any applicable criminal penalties and are published on the FMA’s website in accord - ance with its transparency and enforcement policy. 2.2.3 Civil Enforcement Action The FMA’s enforcement role is confined to the enti - ties it supervises – including banks, insurance com - panies, fund management companies, fiduciaries and asset managers – with particular focus on compliance with asset-freeze obligations derived from UN and EU restrictive measures as transposed into Liechtenstein law. Publicly known civil enforcement actions in Liechten - stein over the past three years have been limited to administrative measures taken by the FMA, the major - ity of which are not made public. The FMA has issued warnings and ordered remedial measures in several cases, in particular against financial intermediaries in connection with inadequate sanctions screening processes. Publicly accessible fine decisions have not come to light in significant numbers, as Liechten - stein tends to follow a relatively discreet supervisory practice compared to larger financial centres. In the context of the Russia-related sanctions, several asset freezes have been ordered and enforced by the com - petent authorities. A particular development that has brought civil enforcement consequences into sharp focus for mar - ket participants is the listing of individual financial ser - vice providers – both in a personal capacity and with respect to their companies – on the OFAC sanctions list. The immediate practical consequences of such listings, including the effective operational incapac - ity of the affected persons and entities, have signifi - cantly heightened awareness of sanctions law and its real-world impact among decision-makers across the Liechtenstein financial sector. Indirectly, the Trustees Act ( Treuhändergesetz , TrHG) has been tightened in this context – or is currently in
the process of being amended through the legislative procedure – so as to make it considerably easier for the FMA to withdraw licences from regulated fiduciar - ies where sanctions-related compliance failures are identified. This legislative development underlines the extent to which sanctions enforcement has become a central element of the broader regulatory framework governing the Liechtenstein financial centre. 2.2.4 Criminal Enforcement Action No publicly known judgments of the ordinary courts concerning violations of the International Sanctions Act (ISG) are currently available. As matters stand, no final and binding judgments of the Princely Court of Justice, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court are known that deal specifically with violations of the ISG. There are several reasons for this. • Enforcement in Liechtenstein takes place primar - ily through administrative channels via the FMA. The FMA files a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office only where, in its assessment, the objective elements of a criminal offence are likely to be met, and a criminal conviction cannot be ruled out in light of existing court practice. The threshold for filing a criminal complaint is therefore deliberately set at a high level. • FMA fines are indeed imposed – for example, on 14 January 2026 the FMA imposed a fine of CHF100,000 on a legal person for breach of due diligence obligations in conjunction with Article 11 (1a)(c) ISG read in conjunction with Art 12 (2)(b) ISG – but these are administrative in nature and do not constitute criminal judgments of an ordinary court. • Sanctions law in its current complexity and inten - sity only gained real significance with the Russia- related sanctions from 2022 onwards. Criminal proceedings before ordinary courts typically take several years to result in a final and binding judg - ment. More generally, the adoption of the Russia sanctions triggered a genuine structural crisis in the Liech - tenstein financial centre. Trustees resigned in large numbers from foundations and establishments with Russian connections – including entities that were not themselves sanctioned – out of fear of exposure
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