Investor Compensation

The purpose of the investor compensation is to cover claims in relation to securities and similar investment instruments that have arisen due to the fact that a bank or other financial service provider has been unable

a) to repay money owed to or belonging to investors and held on their behalf in connection with investment business, or

b) to return to investors any financial instruments belonging to them and held, administered or managed on their behalf in connection with investment business

according to the applicable statutory and contractual conditions.

If the so-called "compensation event" occurs at a Liechtenstein bank or other financial service provider (that is in an pre-existing contractual relationship with EAS) due to an insolvency, a prohibition on disbursements or a bankruptcy, the respective EAS cell  that is affected by the compensation event compensates the client for duly reviewed and covered investor claims within the statutory time limit.

Protected are investor claims solely of non-professional clients, in particular private clients,  up to a maximum of CHF 30,000 per person or the equivalent of this amount in another currency.

EAS offers the following cells for Liechtenstein banks and other financial service providers:

  • Banks cell, for banks according to the Liechtenstein Banking Act (BankG)
  • Investment firms cell, for investment firms according to the Liechtenstein Banking Act (BankG)
  • Asset managers cell, for asset management companies according to the Liechtenstein Asset Management Act (VVG)
  • Management companies/AIFM cell for management companies according to the Liechtenstein Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Act (UCITSG) and alternative investment fund managers according to Liechtenstein Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIMFG)

Further answers to your questions are available in the frequently asked questions (FAQ).

to the FAQs        Glossary

For bank clients

Particularly for entitled bank clients, investor claims are in addition to deposits also covered up to a maximum of CHF 30,000 per person in the payout/compensation event, whereby account balances are not compensated twice. However, this protection form of investor claims provided by law is unlikely to be of great relevance in practice, since in the compensation event, client's securities kept in a custody account are segregated from the bankruptcy estate exclusively in his favour (segregation privilege).