FMA Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein

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The Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA) commenced operations on January 1, 2005 as an independent authority under the law of June 18, 2004 on financial market supervision (Financial Market Supervision Act; FMAG).

tasks

The tasks are divided into four main areas:

  • Banking area
  • Insurance and pension schemes
  • Securities and Markets area
  • Money Laundering Prevention and Other Financial Intermediaries

organization

The FMA is an institution under public law with its own legal personality. The FMA is not independent from the government and is accountable to the government. +

Supervisory board

The FMA Liechtenstein is managed by a supervisory board . Roland Müller has been President of the Supervisory Board since the beginning of 2017. He replaced Urs Philipp Roth-Cuony, who was President from the beginning of 2012 to the end of 2016.

The supervisory board consists of three to a maximum of five members (Art 7 FMAG).

As far as possible, the following areas of expertise are represented on the Supervisory Board:

  • Banking, including asset management;
  • Insurance industry, including pensions;
  • Fiduciary, law, or auditing;
  • Securities trading, including investment companies .

The members of the supervisory board must also have impeccable repute, a high level of specialist knowledge and sufficient practical experience. The president, the deputy and at least one other member of the supervisory board may not exercise any functions for a supervised natural or legal person. Other members of the FMA's supervisory board may also belong to the supervised companies (Art. 7 (5) FMAG).

The following inalienable and non-delegable tasks are assigned to the Supervisory Board (Art. 12 FMAG):

  • the overall direction of the financial market supervision;
  • the enactment and amendment of the statutes;
  • the determination of the organisation;
  • financial planning and financial control, insofar as this is necessary for the management of the company;
  • the election, supervision and dismissal of the members of the executive board;
  • the implementation of the ownership strategy decided by the government;
  • the preparation of the annual budget, the annual report and the annual accounts;
  • advising the government on financial market strategy issues;
  • the issuing of guidelines and recommendations within the meaning of Art. 25 FMAG

The term of office of the members of the Supervisory Board is five years. A single re-election is permitted. After two terms of office, re-election for an extraordinary term of two years is permissible in justified cases (Art 8 FMAG).

Managing directors

The members of the management are elected by the supervisory board after a public invitation to tender (Art. 14 para. 1 FMAG).

Like the members of the Supervisory Board, the incompatibility regulations within the meaning of Art. 7 Paragraph 5 FMAG are to be applied accordingly (see above). The members of the management team must have impeccable repute, a high level of specialist knowledge and sufficient practical experience.

The management is responsible for the operational management of the FMA. The composition, tasks and powers of the management are set out in the statutes and organizational regulations of the FMA.

Auditor

The government of the Principality of Liechtenstein elects a recognized auditing company within the meaning of the law on auditors and auditing companies as auditors. The government can also delegate the role of auditor to the state financial control .

FMA Complaints Commission

The FMA Complaints Commission is set up in accordance with Article 78 (3) of the state constitution and consists of three members and two substitute members who are elected by the Liechtenstein Parliament for a term of five years. The State Parliament also appoints the President and the Vice-President of the FMA Complaints Commission. There are incompatibility regulations for activities in certain positions of the government, the state parliament, the FMA itself, supervised companies, etc.

The FMA Complaints Commission is responsible for assessing appealable decisions and rulings by the FMA. These can be contested within 14 days of being served by the FMA Complaints Commission. Against the decisions and rulings of the FMA Complaints Commission, a complaint can be lodged with the Administrative Court (Liechtenstein) within 14 days of delivery .

Legal basis

The legal bases of the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority are:

  • Law on Financial Market Supervision
  • Law on the Control and Monitoring of Public Enterprises
  • Ownership strategy for the FMA Liechtenstein
  • Statutes of the FMA Liechtenstein
  • Organizational regulations of the FMA Liechtenstein
  • FMA Taxes and Fees Ordinance

A large number of Liechtenstein laws serve as the legal basis for the FMA's supervisory activities , including among others

  • Law on Banks (Banking Law)
  • Asset Management Act (VVG)
  • Investment Company Act (IUG)
  • Law on the supervision of insurance companies (Insurance Supervision Act, VersAG)
  • Law on Professional Due Diligence in Financial Transactions (Due Diligence Act, SPG)
  • Liechtenstein Personal and Company Law (PGR)
  • Law on the creation, control and dissemination of the prospectus to be published for public offers of securities (Prospectus Act)

The owner or participation strategies enacted by the government in accordance with Art. 16 ÖUSG within the framework of the Public Company Control Act are not binding for the supervised companies and only bind the organs of the FMA themselves. This owner or participation strategy is a good Governance - steering mechanism.

control

The government of the Principality of Liechtenstein is responsible for overall supervision (Art 78 Paragraph 4 of the State Constitution, Art 1 Paragraph 3 FMAG). The government 's control tasks have also been regulated in the Public Company Control Act since January 1, 2010 .

The overall supervision of the government encompasses all areas of financial market supervision for the control and monitoring of the FMA, including the personnel, organizational and regulatory areas, since the Liechtenstein financial market supervision has been entrusted with sovereign activities directly derived from the government competencies of the state constitution and these in its own name but for the government or the country of Liechtenstein (Art 1 Para. 3 lit. a ÖUSG).

In this context, the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority is entitled to safeguard the interests of the country, insofar as it has been assigned powers to do so (e.g. in international bodies, in the context of administrative assistance, etc.), with the government having final control and authority in this regard . In this context, the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority is also required to report regularly to the government.

According to the strict rules governing the transfer of competences from the Liechtenstein national constitution, the government is not entitled to transfer certain areas of financial market supervision without supervision or to in fact omit supervision.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FMA - Organigram archive link ( memento of the original dated January 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fma-li.li
  2. ↑ From January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2009, the FMA was only accountable to the Liechtenstein Parliament to a very limited extent (for expenditure). This very far-reaching independence and freedom of instruction contradicted Article 78 (4) of the Liechtenstein national constitution (LV) and since the beginning of 2009, efforts were underway in the state parliament and in the government itself to place the Liechtenstein financial market supervision under the supervision of the government in conformity with the constitution (for Necessity of subordinating the FMA to the supervision of the government see statements by Anton Schäfer in " Anstalten Rechts ", 113 ff, 225 ff; Edition Europa Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-901924-26-2 ). See also: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, edition of October 8, 2009, p. 3.
  3. ↑ The criticism in teaching and practice (see footnote 2 above) has led to a change in the legal basis of the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority Amendment Act ( Memento of the original of January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 41 kB) and Art. 1 FMAG has been supplemented by Paragraph 3 since January 1, 2010: " 3) Unless otherwise specified in this Act, the Act on the Control and Monitoring of Public Enterprises shall also apply ". Art 33a FMAG was also introduced: " 1) The FMA is subject to the supervision of the government " and several other points criticized by the teaching were met in order to ensure conformity with the constitution. The " Law on the Control and Supervision of Public Enterprises " entered into force on January 1st, 2010. The FMA is currently still designed as an institution under public law and thus continues to contradict Art 78 Para. 4 LV, since an institution under public law within the meaning of Art 78 Para. 4 LV may be founded exclusively for social, cultural or economic purposes (the FMA as a supervisory authority does not meet these criteria) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.llv.li
  4. ↑ Urs Philipp Roth-Cuony becomes the new President of the FMA Liechtenstein. ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Media release in: regierung.li from September 28, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.regierung.li
  5. ↑ Quote according to Art. 7 Para. 1 FMAG.
  6. ↑ FMA - legal basis [1]
  7. ↑ Law of June 18, 2004 on Financial Market Supervision (Financial Market Supervision Act; FMAG), LGBl 175/2004 [2]
  8. ↑ Law of November 19, 2009 on the control and monitoring of public companies, LGBl 356/2009 [3]
  9. ↑ FMA - owner strategy [4]
  10. ↑ FMA - Articles of Association [5]
  11. ↑ FMA - Articles of Association [6]
  12. ↑ Ordinance of 3 December 2013 on the collection of supervisory duties and fees in accordance with the Financial Market Supervision Act (FMA-AGV), LGBl 390/2013 [7]
  13. ↑ Law of November 19, 2009 on the control and monitoring of public companies (ÖUSG), LGBl 356/2009.
  14. ↑ See, for example, the "owner strategy" for the FMA, which the government issued on March 15, 2010.