LIECHTENSTEIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Bernhard Rankl, Moritz Blasy and Nicolai Binkert, Schurti Partners Attorneys at Law Ltd
(E-Money Directive) into national law, and provide for the regulatory framework for elec - tronic money institutions. • The Token and Trusted Technology Service Provider Act (Token- und VT-Dienstleister- Gesetz; TVTG) and the Token and Trusted Technology Service Provider Ordinance ( Token- und VT-Dienstleister-Verordnung TVTV), which govern the use of blockchain technology and the token economy in Liech - tenstein. • The Recovery and Resolution Act ( Sani- erungs- und Abwicklungsgesetz SAG) and the Recovery and Resolution Ordinance ( Sanierungs- und Abwicklungsverordnung SAV) transpose Directive 2014/59/EU (BRRD) into Liechtenstein law, and implement, inter alia, resolution tools and requiring banks and investment firms to prepare restructuring plans laying out the actions to be taken to restore the financial stability of an institution in the event of a significant deterioration in its financial position. • The EEA Securities Prospectus Implementa - tion Act ( EWR-Wertpapierprospekt-Durch- führungsgesetz EWR-WPPDG) facilitates the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (Prospectus Regulation), and establishes the framework for drawing up prospectuses and for offering securities to the public in Liech - tenstein. • The Financial Market Supervision Act ( Finan - zmarktaufsichtsgesetz FMAG) lays out the internal organisation of the FMA, the supervi - sory instruments available to the FMA, and its competencies. As mentioned above, Liechtenstein is a member of the EEA so many EU regulations are directly applicable in Liechtenstein – eg, Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR), Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (EMIR), Regulation (EU) 2017/1129
(Prospectus Regulation) and (once it has been added to the EEA acquis) Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCAR). Authorities The Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA) is an independent institution under pub - lic law that supervises financial market partici - pants in Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein does not participate in the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), so no institution in Liechtenstein is sub - ject to supervision by the European Central Bank (ECB). However, as Liechtenstein is part of the Swiss franc monetary area, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) acts as the national bank of Liech - tenstein, which means that financial institutions in Liechtenstein must comply with certain report - ing requirements vis-à-vis the SNB. 2. Authorisation 2.1 Licences and Application Process Authorisation Requirements Banks and investment firms require a licence from the FMA in order to commence their busi - ness activities (see below for the scope of regu - lated activities). If the bank or investment firm is part of a foreign group active in the financial sector, a licence will only be granted if the group is subject to consolidated supervision compara - ble to Liechtenstein supervision and if the home country supervisory authority raises no objec - tions to the establishment of a subsidiary. The operation of a domiciliary bank – ie, a Liechten - stein-licensed bank that has no physical pres - ence in Liechtenstein, is prohibited. A banking or investment firm license will be granted if the applicant meets the following requirements:
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