Applicable laws
Liechtenstein foundation law, which originated in 1926, was comprehensively revised by the Law of 26 June 2008 on the Amendment of the Persons and Companies Act (PGR), Liechtenstein Law Gazette (LGBl.) 2008 No. 220. The new foundation law entered into force on 1 April 2009. The revised legal norms continue to be embedded in the PGR, but they now constitute a self-contained and systematic classification (Law on Foundations) in the form of sequential clauses within article 552 PGR. The general provisions of the PGR, and accordingly also those governing legal entities, thus remain applicable to foundation law as well.
Although the new law follows the principle of “old law for old foundations – new law for new foundations”, the transitional provisions make numerous new rules applicable to foundations established under the old law as well.
In addition to the new systematic classification mentioned above, key goals of the revisions were to strengthen the responsibility of the founder, to secure “deposited” foundations for the long term by reorganising the deposition model, and to strengthen foundation supervision and foundation governance.
Laws/Ordinances
- Law of 26 June 2008 on the Amendment of the Persons and Companies Act, Liechtenstein Law Gazette 2008 Volume No. 220; entry into force on 1 April 2009 « (German)
- Law of 17 September 2009 on Extension of the Transitional Periods, Liechtenstein Law Gazette 2009 Volume No. 247 « (German)
- Foundation Law Ordinance (StRV) of 24 March 2009, Liechtenstein Law Gazette 2009 Volume No. 114 «
- Tax Act « (German)
- Special Non-Contentious Civil Proceedings Act « (German)
- Old foundation law (version before entry into force of the Law of 26 June 2008) « (German)
- Selection of further PGR provisions « (German)
- Law of 26 June 2008 on the Amendment of the Persons and Companies Act, Liechtenstein Law Gazette 2008 Volume No. 220 «
- Law of 7 November 2014 on Protected Cell Company, Liechtenstein Law Gazette 2014 Volume No. 362 « (German)
Further materials on foundation law
- Consultation Report of March 2007 « (German)
- Report and Application on Comprehensive Revision of Foundation Law (Report and Application No. 13/2008) « (German)
- Parliamentary proceedings on 1st reading of the proposal « (German)
- Statement on the questions raised in the 1st reading (Report and Application No. 85/2008) « (German)
- Parliamentary proceedings on 2nd reading of the proposal « (German)
- Report and Application on Extension of the Transitional Periods (Report and Application No. 65/2009) « (German)
- Report and Application on Protected Cell Company (Report and Application No. 69/2014 and No. 100/2014) « (German)
