LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Ott, Andreas Vogel, Husmira Halis and Felix Bayer, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
who directs another person to commit the offence or who otherwise contributes to its commission. The same penalties therefore apply to all perpetrators. 3.13 Money Laundering According to Liechtenstein criminal law, a person who conceals or disguises the origin of assets resulting from an offence punishable with imprisonment of more than one year or certain misdemeanours (eg, forgery of documents or tax fraud) – in particular by making false statements in legal transactions concerning the origin or true nature of the ownership or other rights in the powers of disposal over or the transfer of those assets – is subject to money laundering charges. The offence of money laundering is also committed by a person who takes any such assets or assets of a crimi - nal organisation or a terrorist association into custody, whether for the sole purpose of keeping them in safe custody, investing or managing them, or converting, realising, or transferring the assets to a third party. Assets are considered to derive from a crime if the perpetrator has obtained them through the offence, received them for the commission of the offence, or they represent the value of the asset originally obtained or received. Additionally, assets that were not taxed as a result of tax or VAT fraud are considered proceeds of a crime (ie, saved taxes). Any person who commits the crime of money launder - ing to a value exceeding CHF75,000, or as a mem - ber of a criminal group that has joined together for the purpose of continued money laundering, shall be punished with imprisonment of one year to ten years. Money laundering is punished with imprisonment of up to two or three years (depending on whether, for example, assets deriving from an offence are held in custody or whether false statements in legal transac - tions are made concerning the origin or true nature of such assets). If the offence of money laundering is committed in relation to a value exceeding CHF75,000 or as a member of a criminal group that was formed for the purpose of the continued commitment of mon - ey laundering, the penalty is imprisonment of one to ten years.
The most relevant laws relating to combating money laundering, organised crime, and terrorist financing are stated in the Liechtenstein Due Diligence Act. Persons subject to the Due Diligence Act (eg, banks, insurance undertakings, asset managers, investment firms, or professional trust service providers) are required to take the necessary measures in order to combat money laundering and are, inter alia, required to report to the Liechtenstein Financial Intelligence Unit any suspicion of money laundering, a predicate offence to money laundering, or terrorist financing. Any breaches of the obligations stated in the Liech - tenstein Due Diligence Act are either prosecuted by the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (in the case of administrative offences) or the Liechtenstein Prosecution Service and the Princely District Court (in the case of infringements and misdemeanours). 3.14 ESG-Related Offences The Liechtenstein Criminal Code stipulates various provisions tied to environmental, social or governance misconduct. Liechtenstein has not introduced a national law on supply chain compliance. However, the European Cor - porate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) will also apply to Liechtenstein companies if they gen - erated net sales of at least EUR450 million in the EU in the most recent financial year, or if the ultimate parent company of a group (with a Liechtenstein subsidiary) has reached this threshold on a consolidated basis. Furthermore, the Directive (EU) 2022/2464 on Cor - porate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD) has been incorporated into Liechtenstein’s national legislation. From the 2024 financial year onwards, the Directive will require large companies with over 500 employees, as well as companies of public interest, to include a sustainability report in their annual (consolidated) report and to disclose and audit this report. Additionally, the Regulation (EU) 2020/852 (Taxonomy Regulation) and the Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (Dis - closure Regulation), both of which have been incor - porated into the EEA acquis, must be complied with. The Liechtenstein legislator has stipulated the related sanctions in the EEA Financial Services Sustainabil -
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