Country Manual Credits
Liechtenstein – Update 2025
out of Credit Institution’s Country of Establishment (RT, BT & Def)
| Source of changes | Answers |
|---|---|
| Law / Regulation | Yes |
| New Position of the Authorities | No |
| Evolution of Expert’s Interpretation | Yes |
Regulatory Template, Behaviour Template and Definitions and Concepts
Material changes
After a comprehensive revision of the Liechtenstein financial market laws, which includes a complete overhaul of the Banking Act and the revision or introduction of other Acts and Ordinances, BRP updated the Country Manual to reflect the changes where appropriate.
While the impact of the revision of the Liechtenstein legislation is mainly an update of the legal basis in the manual without a change in the general cross-border approach, the most relevant development concerns the concept of reverse solicitation:
The Investment Firms Act now provides an explicit legal basis for the concept of reverse solicitation relating to investment services (in particular: Lombard credits). According to the interpretation of local counsel, it is deemed that the reverse solicitation principle stated expressly for foreign investment firms also applies to a foreign credit institution providing investment services to Liechtenstein clients if the respective conditions are fulfilled;
For the provision of banking services (i.e., most other credit services), on the other hand, no such provision has been introduced in the revised Banking Act. The reason for this omission is unclear, in particular in light of the concept of reverse solicitation having been (informally) recognised by the authorities in the past and because the concept of reverse solicitation is expected to be formally implemented into Liechtenstein law with the transposition of CRD VI. While it is believed under local interpretation that the foreign credit institution should be able to rely on reverse solicitation for its banking services, note the related risks, as there are no formal rules, guidance or official position concerning the application of the reverse solicitation principle to a foreign credit institution’s banking services.
The Behaviour Template now reflects these developments, and, in particular, no longer includes the condition of “no formal rule” for reverse solicitation for the section on Lombard credits.
Non-material changes
Some comments and content have been slightly reworded (without introducing material changes), and additional references to applicable law/regulation have been made in order to provide more clarity and to reflect the regulatory situation/current interpretation of the regulatory framework more accurately. Further non-material changes have been made throughout the documents.
For more information, please contact us: info@brpsa.com
Geneva, July 4th 2025