Case studies

The best way to get to know our way of working is through real cases. Gain a first impression. Then we should talk.

CRR / CRD and the Liechtenstein Constitution

The exact application of CRR and CRD in all detail has often raised and still does raise questions. One of our client banks was fined by the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority for breach of CRR and CRD provisions relating to capital requirements. We challenged the FMA decision as to our understanding, CRR and CRD had been fully complied with. In the broader picture, the question arose whether CRR and CRD were applicable in Liechtenstein at all as the provisions had not been transposed into national law, rather, the Liechtenstein Banking Act simply referred to CRR and CRD wherever of relevance. We questioned whether such “publication by reference” was in line with the Liechtenstein Constitution. Whilst the FMA Appeals Commission followed our approach and considered the publication by reference to be unconstitutional, the Liechtenstein Constitutional Court protected this practice and confirmed publication by reference of EC provisions in Liechtenstein. The FMA complaints committee initially supported our concerns and backed our doubts regarding the constitutionality of the reference publication in the specific case. The Liechtenstein Constitutional Court, on the other hand, confirmed the admissibility of a reference publication of European legal provisions in Liechtenstein and thus upheld the common practice in Liechtenstein regarding this matter.