Regulatory requirements and supervisory expectations
Within the Liechtenstein financial market, national and European regulatory frameworks interact with specific supervisory expectations. This results in increased requirements for governance, risk management and compliance structures for financial service providers.
We support financial service providers in Liechtenstein with the appropriate classification and practical implementation of regulatory requirements.
One of our core competencies is providing internal control system (ICS), compliance and risk management services for financial service providers. We act as your advisor or outsourcing partner and support you in implementing risk management and compliance within your organisation.
Services can be obtained as complete packages or on a modular basis, tailored to your individual needs.
Do you have a regulatory question in the area of financial market law? We provide advisory services and/or prepare a legal opinion, inter alia, in the following fields of law:
A financial-market licensing procedure involves various challenges—both in terms of timing and the required process steps. Thanks to our many years of practical experience and our strong network within the financial industry, we are very familiar with the FMA’s expectations and can support you comprehensively throughout the licensing process.
We support you in the following areas:
Ongoing changes in regulatory requirements increasingly challenge organisations and entail risks that companies should be aware of.
To mitigate these risks, we offer a review of your organisation’s regulatory compliance through regulatory due diligence and regulatory health checks. Our gap analyses identify potential shortcomings in compliance with statutory requirements. Based on the results, we provide tailored solutions to remediate and proactively prevent such deficiencies.
We plan and deliver employee trainings and continuing education workshops tailored to your needs across all relevant regulatory topics (including DDA, AAM, WPDG, WPFG, BA, EMA, PSA, cross-border, corporate governance, market conduct, conduct of business rules, and conflicts of interest).
With our Compliance Background Check, we support you with enhanced KYC/AML background checks for clients, prospects, suppliers and business partners—or entire client portfolios in the context of acquisitions, mergers, or mandate migrations. The focus is on compliance-relevant information that may indicate potential legal, sanctions and reputational risks or that may influence the risk-based assessment and monitoring of a business relationship.
In addition to structured research in publicly available sources, we use dedicated risk databases and media research tools. We summarise the results for you in a meaningful report.
This enables you to identify, assess and address potential legal and reputational risks at an early stage and to make the right decisions for your organisation.
“Sustainable finance” expands financial services by integrating ESG factors (environmental, social and governance) with the aim of contributing to the transition towards a more sustainable society.
Financial service providers also face regulatory challenges in this context. As an EEA member, Liechtenstein implements the relevant EU sustainability requirements for the financial sector, in particular the disclosure obligations under the SFDR and the requirements of the Taxonomy Regulation, complemented by Liechtenstein implementing law (EWR-FNDG).
ESG factors and sustainability risks increasingly need to be integrated into business strategy, governance and processes. Regulatory changes must be monitored continuously and may require adjustments—up to and including the consistent implementation of sustainable finance in products, client information and communications (including the avoidance of “greenwashing”).
Grant Thornton’s specialists support you in meeting the expectations of clients, investors and the FMA.
Our experts have many years of experience in internal and regulatory investigations and support you objectively and independently in clarifying suspected incidents—whether internal (economic crime, serious breaches of internal policies, data protection incidents, etc.) or external (economic crime, money laundering, cyberattacks, etc.).
We advise you in the following areas:
Our team comprises experienced professionals from legal, compliance and risk management backgrounds with deep knowledge of the financial industry. We work closely with the auditors in the “Audit Financial Services” practice and strive to create maximum added value for our clients. We support you in continuing your business activities successfully and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
