18
S upervision
FMA Annual Report 2021
BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER
TABLE OF CONTENT
PRINCIPLES OF ENFORCEMENT
that violations of the law are discovered and punished.
Enforcement refers to the enforcement of supervisory
tenstein financial centre and the credibility of its super-
In doing so, it strengthens the reputation of the Liech-
law and is part of supervision. Enforcement has become
vision for the protection of clients, the prevention of
cial crisis, the financial sector faced a massive wave
with recognised international standards. It coordinates
increasingly important in recent years. After the finan-
of regulation; at the same time, the supervisory
authorities themselves and their powers in the
enforcement of supervisory law were strengthened.
abuses, and the implementation of and compliance
with domestic and foreign authorities for this purpose. Proceedings against responsible individuals: With
When breaches of supervisory law are identified, they
the exception of market supervision, where the focus
ventive effect.
addressing identified grievances among supervised
As the national supervisor in the European System of
conduct administrative proceedings against individ-
should be rigorously pursued, also to achieve a pre-
Financial Supervision (ESFS), the FMA is directly
affected by these developments and has strengthened enforcement in recent years. In the reporting
year, the Board of Directors adopted principles for the FMA’s enforcement activities. These principles spell
out the FMA’s understanding of the enforcement of
supervisory law. In this way, the FMA creates transparency vis-à-vis market participants and the public,
is on individual misconduct, the FMA concentrates on
entities. But the FMA does reserve the right to also
uals who are responsible for serious violations of super-
visory law, thus no longer providing a guarantee of proper business conduct.
Opening of proceedings: When opening administra-
tive proceedings, the FMA takes into account the
danger to clients, the reputation of the financial cen-
tre, the gravity and timing of the violations of super-
and the FMA’s actions become more predictable.
visory law, and the function of the parties responsible
by providing the framework for the FMA’s internal
lar, the nature of the violation of supervisory law, the
At the same time, the principles have an internal effect enforcement rules at the operational level.
Enforcement as part of supervision: The FMA clar-
for the violation. Essential criteria include, in particu-
supervisory priorities of the FMA, public expectations, and corrective measures initiated by the parties.
ifies any indications it finds of violations of the laws
Fair and transparent procedures: The FMA conducts
inal law. If the FMA arrives at a justified suspicion as a
and statutory procedural rights of the parties, such
circumstances indicate that the reputation of the
maintains clearly structured and complete files for
assigned to the FMA for execution or of general crimresult of these preliminary investigations, or if the
its proceedings fairly and safeguards the constitutional
as the right to inspect files or to be heard. The FMA
Liechtenstein financial centre is jeopardised, it initiates
this purpose. It informs the parties about the opening,
establishes the facts of the case, and orders any nec-
exceptional basis, it may defer disclosure of this infor-
administrative or administrative criminal proceedings, essary measures and fines (enforcement).
status, and discontinuation of proceedings. On an mation in the interest of the proceedings.
Goals of enforcement: Through enforcement, the
Focused and rapid proceedings: The FMA conducts
assigned to the FMA for execution, demonstrating
manner in the interest of the public and of the parties.
FMA consistently implements the legal provisions
its proceedings rapidly, decisively, and in a focused
