LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Moritz Blasy, Nicolai Binkert, Simon Ott and Christian Scheffknecht, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
Registry can only be inspected with respect to spe - cific properties. It is not possible to search it for all properties owned by a particular person. The Seizure Register (Pfändungsregister) All seizures of movable assets are registered in a reg - ister kept by the Liechtenstein District Court. The reg - ister contains information on the creditors, the debt - ors, the enforced claims, the dates of the seizures, and the assets concerned. The Seizure Register can be accessed by anyone who can show that they require the information for the ini - tiation of legal proceedings, for the purpose of enforc - ing a claim, or for other important reasons. Asset Disclosure Orders More detailed information on another party’s asset position can be obtained through asset disclosure orders issued in the course of enforcement proceed - ings. For example, although a creditor is required to specify the assets against which enforcement is sought in the enforcement application, in the case of bank accounts, it is acceptable in practice for a credi - tor to describe the assets as “all bank accounts” held by the debtor with a particular bank (without having to specify the details of the bank account(s)), and the bank will then be ordered by the court to disclose the bank accounts held by the debtor. Also, if the enforce - ment of a monetary judgment remains unsuccessful because no realisable assets can be found, the debtor will be ordered by the court to submit a statement of all their assets, upon the application of the credi - tor. If the debtor fails to comply, the submission of the statement of assets can be enforced by coercive measures, including detention. Providing incorrect or incomplete information in the statement of assets constitutes a criminal offence under Liechtenstein law. Injunctive Relief Information on another party’s asset position can also be obtained through injunctive relief. Under Liechten - stein law, injunctive relief can be obtained to prevent irreparable damage or a change in circumstances that might frustrate or significantly complicate enforce - ment of a claim or right at a later stage. In such cases, injunctive relief can be granted in the form of preserva - tive measures in order to preserve the matter in dis -
pute or otherwise secure future enforcement pend - ing conclusion of the main proceedings, for example by means of freezing orders, seizures or restraining orders. Even in cases where future enforcement is not a concern, injunctive relief can be granted in the form of regulatory measures in order to regulate the parties’ relationship pending conclusion of the main proceedings, if it is feared that irreparable damage would otherwise occur. Applications for injunctive relief can be made prior to the initiation of a lawsuit, simultaneously with a state- ment of claim initiating a lawsuit, or during a pending lawsuit whenever the need arises, even at the stage of enforcement. In the application, the applicant needs to: • show a prima facie case (eg, a claim whose enforcement needs to be secured) supported by prima facie evidence; • show reasons justifying injunctive relief (ie, a risk of irreparable damage or irreversible change in circumstances); and • specify the injunctive measure sought. Liechtenstein statutory law does not explicitly restrict injunctive relief to assets located in Liechtenstein. Thus, injunctive measures can be ordered with respect to assets outside the jurisdiction. It is then a question of the laws applicable in the jurisdictions where the relevant assets are located as to whether an order of a Liechtenstein court will be enforceable there. As a rule, injunctive measures can only be imposed on the applicant’s counterparty, but injunctive relief can be ordered against third parties as far as it relates to a relationship (contractual or other) between the third party and the applicant’s counterparty. For example, a third party who holds assets of the applicant’s coun - terparty (eg, a bank) can be ordered not to dispose of the respective assets and, in this context, the third party can also be ordered to provide information on the applicant’s counterparty’s assets held with the third party.
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