Foundation in Liechtenstein

An endowment that owns itself, dedicated to a purpose the founder fixed.

6,117 registered in our holdings16 FMA-authorised

What it is

The Liechtenstein foundation is a fund of assets given legal personality of its own. It has no owners, no shareholders and no members — only a purpose, fixed by the founder in the foundation deed, and beneficiaries who may receive something from it.

Foundation law was rewritten completely in 2009. Since then a foundation is either common-benefit or private-benefit, and that distinction decides its publicity: common-benefit foundations are entered in the commercial register, private-benefit ones are merely deposited. This is why the number of registered foundations is not the number of foundations that exist — and why a register such as this one can only ever show the registered ones.

A foundation is administered by its foundation council (Stiftungsrat). That is the only mandatory organ and it represents the foundation externally; at least one member must satisfy the requirements for representation before Liechtenstein authorities.