Type and Duration
FFF-Förderprojekt, May 2025 until December 2026Coordinator
Company, Foundation & Trust LawMain Research
Business LawDescription
At the time the Persons and Companies Act (PGR) was created, Liechtenstein was experiencing a challenging economic situation due to the events of the First World War and was in urgent need of capital. Consequently, the country sought to strengthen its economic and legal ties with Switzerland, with a view to establishing a new, innovative company law. In conjunction with a liberal tax law, Liechtenstein's legislators wanted to make the Principality more attractive to foreign investors. The PGR, which came into force in 1926, therefore contains a diverse range of legal forms that are intended to provide every interested investor with a suitable company form or asset structure that is specifically tailored to their needs. With regard to Liechtenstein legal forms for asset structuring, the foundation and the trust should be mentioned in particular. The enduring popularity of these structures is underscored by the latest figures, which show that approximately 9,500 foundations and around 1,600 trusts are currently registered in Liechtenstein.Following a period of stability, there are now extensive national reform efforts underway to update the rules governing foundations and trusts. These primarily concern control and supervision, as well as the associated intervention in a closed, self-regulating system. On the one hand, the government of the Principality of Liechtenstein adopted a consultation report in November 2023 on the optimisation of trust law, in which far-reaching legal amendments are proposed. The planned changes relate in particular to trust governance. The proposal's key points include the introduction of a mandatory information officer (enforcer), amendments to the provisions on judicial supervision, the catalogue of supervisory measures, the right to file an application and party status in supervisory proceedings, and the subordination of charitable trusteeships to the supervision of the foundation supervisory authority. On the other hand, following the total revision of foundation law that took place in 2008, a targeted improvement of the existing standards is also being considered. Adjustments are to be expected in particular with regard to the beneficiaries' rights of inspection and information, supervision and the prevention of legal disputes between the parties involved in the foundation.
From a comparative legal perspective, the two legal forms of foundation and trust are also subject to regulatory influences at the European level. In this context, the possibilities for the Liechtenstein financial centre to position itself and stand out in international competition must be examined. The objective of the research project is to subject the planned national legislative changes to a scientific analysis, to place them in an international context and, finally, to analyse them in a comparative legal context. In addition, the
European influences on other legal forms of asset structuring, such as corporations as family pools or holding companies, will also be assessed.
Reference to Liechtenstein
From a historical perspective, the unprecedented rise of Liechtenstein's financial centre is due not least to the almost 100-year-old Persons and Companies Act. The editors of the law at the time demonstrated a strong understanding of how to promote the domestic asset structuring centre with a flexible body of legislation consisting predominantly of dispositive provisions. Since then, foundations and trusts have been the most important vehicles for asset investment. Even today, the numbers of these two legal entities remain high (around 9,500 and 1,600 respectively), emphasising their practical importance that has persisted for decades. In this respect, the current national, European and international influences on the foundation and the trust - two guarantors of the success of Liechtenstein's financial centre - are of great scientific and practical relevance and also of overriding interest to all local stakeholders.Keywords
Asset Structure, Foundation, Trust
Project Lead
- Company, Foundation & Trust Law
Publications
Schurr, F., & Butterstein, A. (in press). Enterprise Foundations in Liechtenstein. In A. Sanders & S. Thomsen (Eds.), Enterprise Foundation Law in a Comparative Perspective Perspective (2nd ed., ).
moreButterstein, A. (in press). Die Substiftung im liechtensteinischen Recht. In H. Heiss, B. Lorenz, M. Schauer & A. Butterstein (Eds.), Festschrift 100 Jahre PGR.
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Brüstle, J. L. (2025, May 20). Der gemeinnützige Trust in Liechtenstein: Ein Rechtsvergleich mit Blick auf aktuelle Reformen. Doktorandenseminar zum Non-Profit-Recht, EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Oestrich-Winkel.
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