LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alexander Appel, Andreas Schurti and Hemma Kohlfürst, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
diately submit a written report to the Financial Intel - ligence Unit (FIU) if there is any suspicion of money laundering, a predicate offence of money laundering, organised crime or terrorist financing. Under the DDA, reporting entities must designate a member of the management who is specifically responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act and its associated ordinances. These individuals are legally obligated to ensure that the company has an adequate internal organisation to mitigate AML risks. If a violation is committed within the business opera - tions of a legal entity, the penal provisions apply direct - ly to the members of the management who acted, or failed to act, on behalf of the entity. The individual management members are jointly and severally liable with the legal entity for any fines and procedural costs resulting from non-compliance. 6. Audit, Risk and Internal Controls 6.1 External Auditors A Liechtenstein corporation must have an external auditor, which must fulfil the statutory requirements of independence. Such auditor is an external organ/ body of the corporation. For smaller corporations/ companies, it is possible to opt out of the auditor requirement. 6.2 Risk Management and Internal Controls In Liechtenstein, regulators oversee geopolitical risks primarily through the enforcement of international sanctions and the assessment of geographic risk fac - tors within due diligence frameworks. The FMA serves as a key supervisory body, monitoring the compliance of financial institutions and ensuring they maintain effective internal control and risk management sys - tems. Oversight and management of these risks occur at the level of the board of directors, which is legally responsible for the company’s internal organisation and must explicitly approve business relationships involving higher risks. The board of directors (and, if it exists, the supervisory board) is legally required to exercise direct oversight and maintain responsibility for a company’s compli -
ance with international sanctions. This oversight is integrated into the broader framework of corporate governance, internal controls and AML due diligence.
7. Environmental, Social and Governance 7.1 ESG Requirements
Due to Liechtenstein’s EEA membership, ESG issues have become very relevant for Liechtenstein compa - nies in relation to reporting. Liechtenstein continu - ously implements pertinent EEA/EU directives deal - ing with ESG matters. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the PCA provides for various obligations in this regard. Article 1096b of the PCA lists the factors that a Liechtenstein company must comply with in rela - tion to reporting and auditing. The specific obligations of a Liechtenstein company depend on its size. It is fair to conclude that ESG-related matters nowadays constitute important elements of the corporate gov - ernance system of Liechtenstein companies. Public companies must also report on sustainability matters in their annual corporate governance report. 7.2 ESG Developments On 8 July 2025, the Liechtenstein government resolved to implement the “Stop the Clock” Direc - tive (EU) 2025/794 into national law. This postpones the initial application dates for certain sustainability reporting obligations under the Corporate Sustainabil - ity Reporting Directive by two years. This adjustment forms part of the ESG regulatory framework and is intended to grant companies more time to prepare for the implementation of the extensive sustainability reporting requirements.
8. Artificial Intelligence 8.1 Board Oversight of AI
As the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) has not yet been approved by the Joint EEA Committee, there are currently no specific legal requirements regard - ing board composition or dedicated committees for the oversight of artificial intelligence (AI). However, responsibility of the members of the board arises indi -
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