The Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein has published its activity report for 2020. This provides details of its comprehensive procedure for the prevention of money laundering. It also took significant decisions for the future implementation of prudential legislation.
The Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein (FMA) published its FMA Practice 2020 on Tuesday. This publication helps create transparency and accountability for financial intermediaries by providing an overview of the FMA’s activities in an anonymized form.
According to the report, the FMA carried out “several and to some extent comprehensive” processes for the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing in 2020. In this way, it is enforcing the Due Diligence Act. Owing to infringements of the Due Diligence Act, the FMA imposed five legally binding fines amounting to 939,000 Swiss francs in total.
At one bank, the FMA found the individual bodies and shareholders no longer offered guarantees for irreproachable activity as they were subject to criminal proceedings. In the case of one individual wanting to acquire large shares in a bank, the FMA raised an objection. The supervisor did not regard all assessment criteria as having been met. In one life insurance case, the entire insurance portfolio was forcibly transferred to another insurance company for the purpose of customer protection. The FMA had found that shareholders were not in line with regulatory requirements. The 18 legally binding fines imposed by the FMA in 2020 amounted to 1,035,500 francs.
