LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Christian Scheffknecht, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd Zollstrasse 2 9490 Vaduz Liechtenstein
Tel: +41 44 244 2000 Fax: +41 44 244 2100
Email: mail@schurtipartners.com Web: www.schurtipartners.com
1. Identifying Assets in the Jurisdiction 1.1 Options to Identify Another Party’s Asset Position In Liechtenstein, public information on a person’s asset position is limited. However, there are a number of registers that may be of assistance in this regard, the most important of which are outlined here. The Commercial Register (Handelsregister) All legal entities that are established under Liechten - stein law and pursue commercial activities must be registered with the Commercial Register, and most types of legal entities must be registered with the Commercial Register regardless of whether or not they pursue commercial activities. However, there are certain (practically important) exemptions to this rule. Most significantly, Liechtenstein foundations do not have to be registered with the Commercial Reg - ister unless they are charitable or pursue commercial activities. Therefore, the vast majority of Liechtenstein private foundations are not registered with the Com - mercial Register. However, it is possible to request an official confirmation ( Amtsbestätigung ) from the Office of Justice regarding such foundations. This will include information on the foundation’s name, regis - tered office, purpose, date of establishment and, if applicable, the duration of the foundation, as well as the members of the foundation council. The Commercial Register contains, amongst other things, information on a legal entity’s statutory capital, its purpose and its directors. Furthermore, all stock companies ( Aktiengesellschaften ), limited liability
companies ( Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung ) and Societas Europaea are required to file their annual financial statements with the Commercial Register. However, the Commercial Register does not contain information on the shareholders of a company, except in the case of limited liability companies (which are not very common in Liechtenstein). The Commercial Register is public and can be inspect - ed by anyone, without the need to show any specific legal interest. The Beneficial Ownership Register (Verzeichnis der wirtschaftlich berechtigten Personen von Rechtsträgern) The Beneficial Ownership Register contains informa - tion on the “beneficial owners” (within the meaning of Liechtenstein AML legislation) of all legal entities established in Liechtenstein. Unlike the Commercial Register, the Beneficial Owner - ship Register is not open to the public. In principle, it may only be inspected by interested persons if they can show that inspection is required for purposes of combating money laundering or terrorist financing. The Land Registry (Grundbuch) The Land Registry is a register comprising all proper - ties (real estate) in Liechtenstein and contains infor - mation on ownership, servitudes, mortgages, etc. All information except information on mortgages is public and may be inspected without the need to show any specific legal interest. However, the Land
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