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Banks in Liechtenstein are supervised by the Financial Market Authority (FMA), whose Banking Division monitors compliance with the applicable law, including the Banking Act, the Due Diligence Act and the Payment Services Act. The deposit guarantee scheme lists fourteen banks as participants, among them LGT Bank, Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB), VP Bank, Bank Frick, Kaiser Partner Privatbank, NEUE BANK and Bendura Bank; two of the fourteen are in liquidation or bankruptcy.
That scheme is the EAS, the Deposit Guarantee and Investor Compensation Foundation set up by the Liechtenstein Bankers Association and supervised by the FMA. It protects deposits up to CHF 100,000 per depositor per bank, adds together all accounts and currencies at one bank, and pays in Swiss francs within seven working days. Companies are covered as well as individuals, whatever the client’s nationality or domicile, so an AG, GmbH or Anstalt owned from abroad is protected. Deposits of institutional investors, funds, asset managers, insurers, pension schemes and state bodies are excluded, and a foundation or partnership counts as a single depositor however many beneficiaries or partners it has. The scheme has been used: after bankruptcy proceedings were opened against Sora Bank in Triesen on 1 March 2024, the compensation event followed on 5 March.
Summarised from the banks’ and providers’ own pages in October 2026:
| Provider | Type | What it says about its clients |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Frick | Bank | Online onboarding for companies, foundations and holdings resident or registered in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK, Hong Kong or Singapore, others only in very exceptional cases; serves professional clients, financial intermediaries and their clients, and other clients where it sees added value on both sides |
| VP Bank | Bank | Around half of the assets it manages come from intermediaries; a dedicated team for trustees and lawyers, and account opening documents for clients they advise |
| LGT Bank | Private bank | Serves families, family offices and foundations from all over the world, working closely with financial intermediaries |
| Liechtensteinische Landesbank | Bank | Business accounts in francs and euros, more currencies in its largest business offer, with EBICS and LLB Connect interfaces; new business clients start at a branch, by phone or through a contact form |
| Revolut Business, Airwallex, Wise | Fintechs | Revolut takes UK and EEA companies that can prove a physical presence there; Airwallex lists Liechtenstein; Wise offers its business card in Liechtenstein and confirms support at sign-up |
Mercury is not an option, because it opens accounts only for companies formed in the United States.
Shareholders of a Liechtenstein company can live anywhere, but its board must include a licensed professional. Article 180a of the Persons and Companies Act requires at least one member of the administration authorised to manage and represent the company to be an EEA citizen, an equivalent person or a legal person, holding a licence under the Trustee Act, and a licensed trustee must keep an office in Liechtenstein. Companies required to have a general manager under the Business Act, or supervised by an authority, are exempt. When that member acts for the company towards the bank, the bank identifies the trustee as one of the people acting for it, alongside the owners.
Under the Due Diligence Act (SPG) and its Ordinance (SPV), the bank identifies the company, its beneficial owners and the people acting for it, draws up a business profile and monitors the account against it. For a Liechtenstein company that means:
The bank may not rely on the VwbP alone, and the register is not public. Bank Frick’s application covers the same ground: origin of the assets, beneficial owners, purpose of the account and the expected incoming and outgoing payments.
Liechtenstein law lets a bank identify you without a meeting. Article 14 of the Ordinance and FMA Guideline 2019/7 allow video identification, remote identification with a biometric check, and, for individuals in simplified cases, a first payment from their own account in the EEA or Switzerland. The identity document must carry at least two verifiable optically variable security features, such as holograms, and a machine-readable zone, and its chip is read where it has one. For a company, the people acting for it go through the same process, and the register extract can come from the bank’s own search or as a certified scan sent with a secure electronic signature.
Whether a bank offers these routes is its own decision. Bank Frick takes applications and passport copies online but still sends account opening documents to be printed, signed and returned. LLB’s 2024 annual report describes online onboarding for private and wealth management clients, not for company accounts.
A bank account belongs to the company, so it stays with the company when the shares change hands. What changes is the bank’s knowledge of who owns it. The company must report its new beneficial owners to the Office of Justice within 30 days of learning of the change. The bank must establish who the new beneficial owners are, bring its business profile up to date and report any discrepancy between its information and the VwbP entry within 30 days. It may then keep the account, ask for more documents or, if due diligence cannot be completed, end the relationship, as the Due Diligence Act requires.
The Swiss franc is Liechtenstein’s legal currency, a position confirmed by its currency treaty with Switzerland of 19 June 1980, in force since 25 November 1981, and LLB’s business accounts run in francs and euros. IBANs begin with LI. As a member of the EEA since 1 May 1995, Liechtenstein sits inside the SEPA schemes, though each bank decides whether to take part. Its FATCA agreement with the United States has been in force since 22 January 2015.
We can form a new company through company formation in Liechtenstein or supply a ready-made Liechtenstein company, and help prepare the bank application; no one can promise that a bank will accept the company. The Liechtenstein company hub covers tax and the board rules, our page on shelf companies with bank accounts explains how accounts behave when a company changes hands, and Swiss business bank accounts are the comparison across the Rhine.
Yes, for a Liechtenstein company, through a bank whose client profile fits. Shareholders may live anywhere, while the company needs an Article 180a qualified member on its board. Bank Frick serves clients resident or registered in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK, Hong Kong or Singapore, others only in very exceptional cases, and VP Bank and LGT work closely with trustees and other intermediaries.
The law allows it: the Due Diligence Ordinance and FMA Guideline 2019/7 accept video identification and remote identification with a biometric check, including for the people acting for a company. Each bank decides whether to use them. Bank Frick takes applications online with uploaded passport copies, but the signed account opening documents still have to be sent back.
Not in the secrecy sense. Liechtenstein has been in the EEA since 1995, has exchanged account data under the Common Reporting Standard since 2017 and applies a FATCA agreement with the United States. The Due Diligence Act bans anonymous accounts and accounts under fictitious names, and a bank opening an account for a Liechtenstein company must obtain an extract from the beneficial owner register.
Yes. The EAS covers companies as well as individuals, whatever the client’s nationality or domicile, up to CHF 100,000 per depositor per bank, paid in Swiss francs within seven working days. Deposits of financial-sector firms such as funds and asset managers, and of state bodies, are excluded. The scheme was used when Sora Bank went bankrupt in March 2024.
The account belongs to the company and stays with it through a share transfer, but the bank reviews the new owners. The company reports them to the VwbP register within 30 days, the bank identifies them and updates its business profile, and it may keep the account, ask for more documents or close it if due diligence cannot be completed.
Company law requires a qualified board member, whatever the bank’s own policy. Article 180a of the Persons and Companies Act requires at least one member authorised to manage and represent the company to be an EEA citizen, equivalent person or legal person holding a Trustee Act licence, with an office in Liechtenstein. Companies with a general manager under the Business Act, or supervised by an authority, are exempt.