Foundation (Liechtenstein)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article deals with the legal entity of the foundation in the Principality of Liechtenstein .

Simplified organization chart Foundation

Award foundations

Liechtenstein has one of the highest density of foundations in the world. In the media, family foundations and cases of abuse take up a large part of the presence. Nevertheless, it must be stated that the civil society effect of the Liechtenstein public grant foundations is significant and that Liechtenstein also has one of the highest density of foundations with regard to the public fund foundations. Many of these foundations work internationally.

Since April 2009, the donation foundations of the Principality of Liechtenstein have been obliged to declare their foundation purpose. Although this information is publicly available for a fee, there are no comprehensive lists of all donation foundations. In practice, communication between donation foundations and beneficiaries largely takes place via financial intermediaries . There is hardly any scientific data on the award practice of the Liechtenstein awarding foundations.

On December 15, 2010, the Association of Liechtenstein Charitable Foundations was founded in Vaduz to represent the interests of charitable foundations.

Asset management

Foundations have been a means of asset management in Liechtenstein since the 1930s . The advantage of family law foundations is that family assets can be kept together. Foundations - like institutions and stock corporations - can be used for tax evasion . The legal basis for Liechtenstein foundations can be found primarily in Art. 552 (Sections 1 to 41) Personal and Company Law (PGR).

Family foundations

Family foundations established in accordance with Liechtenstein law make it possible to favor oneself or relatives, as well as to separate assets from their actual owners and thus make them anonymous. Only the Liechtenstein lawyer and trustee has to be informed of the name of the founder and the purpose of the foundation. The foundation's assets must amount to at least 30,000 francs (around 24,300 € / as of 02/13). In contrast to the foundations of most countries, a Liechtenstein foundation can be dissolved by the founder at any time. With a few exceptions, the founder can freely determine the purpose and administration of the foundation's assets. No official approval is required, and it only takes a few days to set up a foundation. In addition, foundations in Liechtenstein as well as so-called domiciliary companies without their own business operations are taxed with at least an annual flat rate of 1,800 Swiss francs . If the assets amount to more than two million Swiss francs or ten million euros, the capital tax is reduced again to 0.075% or 0.05%. In the case of founders residing outside Liechtenstein, gift or inheritance taxes are not incurred in Liechtenstein, but must be paid to the tax authorities of the country of residence when the assets are transferred. Foreign tax investigators or public prosecutors are not granted any administrative assistance by the Liechtenstein authorities in the case of fiscal offenses.

development

The development of the number of foundations includes all foundations in Liechtenstein and has been negative since 2008. The data was taken from the publication of the commercial register in Liechtenstein , as published annually in the annual report. Information as of December 31 of each year. No reliable figures exist before 2007, only estimates. In the period from December 31, 2008 to January 1, 2017, around 35,000 foundations were deleted from the register (- 68.6%). If this development continues, as in the years 2008 to 2016 with around 4,300 deletions per year, there will be no more foundations in Liechtenstein by 2021 at the latest. While it took about 70 years to build up to a peak of 50,287 foundations, the reduction to a level in the 1930s would be achieved in just 13 years if the tendency towards deletions persists.

Development of the number of foundations in Liechtenstein
45258
50287
46288
38936
34231
30433
25633
22030
18618
15723
13032
11990
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Note : The figures in the current statement of accounts are inconsistent from December 31st of each year to January 1st of the following year and are obviously corrected in each subsequent government statement of accounts . These figures for the current year are therefore only provisional. On the basis of a small request from MP Harry Quaderer in October 2012, government councilor Aurelia Frick informed that "due to the ongoing re-entry of old tabs (...) legal entities are continuously entered or removed from the commercial register database ". " These changes in the stock number are not listed as a» new establishment «or» deletion «, as the process did not take place in the current year. As a result, the stock number on December 31st does not match the number on January 1st of the following year . "

For detailed overall statistics for all types of companies in Liechtenstein: see Commercial Register (Liechtenstein) .

Tax evasion

The investigative proceedings in Germany against hundreds of suspects who are said to have used this route of tax evasion caused a great stir in February 2008 .

Money laundering

But not only tax evasion is favored by the Liechtenstein foundation model. The separation of assets and owners and the great anonymity in principle also favor money laundering . At the beginning of April 2008 it was reported that a Liechtenstein foundation is suspected of having laundered money for the Spanish terrorist organization ETA .

Foundation supervision

Foundation supervision was carried out in the Principality of Liechtenstein from April 1, 2009 to January 31, 2013 by the Land and Public Register Office as the foundation supervision authority (STIFA). The Office of Justice has existed since February 1, 2013 and in this context its own foundation supervision .

criticism

According to the 2012 GRECO evaluation report, “companies and foundations are (still) used for criminal purposes to a certain extent” in Liechtenstein.

See also

literature

  • Harald Bösch: Liechtenstein Foundation Law , Stämpfli Verlag, Bern 2005, ISBN 978-3-7272-9117-3
  • Klaus J. Hopt , Dieter Reuter (ed.): Foundation law in Europe. Foundation law and foundation law reform in Germany, the member states of the European Union, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the USA . Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne 2001, ISBN 978-3-452-24942-5 .

Web links

Commons : Foundations  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ on the establishment of the Association of Liechtenstein Charitable Foundations . In: Volksblatt , February 11, 2011.
  2. ↑ Schütz, Der Betrieb, from March 21, 2008, Issue 12, pages 603-607.
  3. ↑ Article 62, Paragraph 2 of the Act of 23 September 2010 on State and Municipal Taxes (Tax Act; SteG), LGBl. 340/2010.
  4. ↑ Liechtenstein Foundations: Alpine Asylum for Fugitive Millions , Spiegel Online, February 14, 2008
  5. ↑ Source: Annual reports 2005 to 2019 online.
  6. ↑ The information for 2007/2008 is uncertain and probably an extrapolation.
  7. ↑ MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC LAND DAY MEETING OF 24./25. OCTOBER 2012, PART 1, approved in the state parliament session on December 19, 2012, accessed on January 25, 2013 at: [1]
  8. ↑ MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC LAND DAY MEETING OF 24./25. OCTOBER 2012, PART 2, approved in the state parliament session on December 19, 2012, accessed on January 25, 2013 under: [2]
  9. ↑ https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/eta-geld-in-liechtenstein-die-konten-der-terroristen-im-fuerstenstaat-1.286909
  10. ^ Amendment to foundation law by LGBl. 220/2008.
  11. ↑ Evaluation report on Liechtenstein, adopted by GRECO at its 52nd General Assembly (Strasbourg, October 17-21, 2011), Greco Eval I / II Rep (2011) 1E, point 140.