A: Liechtenstein is a reputed jurisdiction providing financial services on an international level which is coupled with long-term national and international political, economic, social and legal stability and continuity. The stable Swiss franc, which is the legal tender in Liechtenstein, also strongly supports the country's success as a financial centre. Liechtenstein has not only created the prototype of the foundation but also until today remains the only jurisdiction in civil law Europe which has introduced and regulated the Anglo-Saxon private trust. Investment funds and insurance solutions round off the product offerings.
Q:What are the most popular financial products in your jurisdiction? How can they protect the interests of investors?
A:The most traditional and also the most popular products among international clients are Liechtenstein foundations and trusts. These structures are used for the protection of family wealth and also for estate and succession planning over the course generations. Very often, specific assets will be segregated into legally stand-alone underlying companies which help to optimize the legal and tax position of the structure over time.
Q:What kinds of professional financial services (trust & foundation/corporate structure) can your jurisdiction provide? What are your existing clients from China? What potential clients do you want to attract from China and how?
A:Liechtenstein strength clearly lies in its experience to provide its international clients with high-value corporate, trust and foundation services. In addition to these Liechtenstein is in the fortunate position to offer a variety of add-on high-level professional services, namely international private banking, insurance and fund management services, international legal, tax and asset structuring advice, single and multi-family offices, as well as specific relocation services. Our existing as well as prospective Chinese clients are high-net-worth individuals (e.g. immigrant populations, parents from overseas students) as well as corporate clients (e.g. family business or major shareholders of large companies). Together with our clients we develop tailor-made solutions in the spheres of privacy/creditor and asset protection, trust, estate and succession planning, tax and asset optimization and IPOs.
Q:As an offshore financial center, what are you going to do in terms of balancing the need for more transparency with the need to protect the privacy of clients?
A:On 12 March 2009, Liechtenstein committed itself to the OECD Standards on Transparency. It has henceforth accepted the internationally valid rules of transparency and information exchange in tax matters and thus can no longer be labelled as an offshore financial centre. As of August 2013 Liechtenstein has concluded 25 Tax Information Exchange Agreements.
