Companies, partnerships, sole traders, foundations and trust structures in Liechtenstein are recorded in the Handelsregister (Commercial Register), kept by the Amt für Justiz (Office of Justice) in Vaduz under the Personen- und Gesellschaftsrecht (Law on Persons and Companies) of 20 January 1926. The register — including the applications and supporting documents behind each entry — is public, a free partial extract can be viewed online and every entry is published in full in the electronic official gazette. The decisive Liechtenstein peculiarity is the second track: private-benefit foundations and private trusts may be deposited instead of registered, and those files are closed to the public.

The official company register in Liechtenstein

The register is the Handelsregister (Commercial Register), maintained by the Handelsregister division of the Amt für Justiz (Office of Justice) of the Liechtenstein national administration. Its legal basis is the Personen- und Gesellschaftsrecht, PGR (Law on Persons and Companies) of 20 January 1926, supplemented by the Handelsregisterverordnung (Commercial Register Ordinance). The public search — the Firmenindex (index of companies) — is at handelsregister.li, where a partial extract of every legal entity entered in the register and of further legal facts can be viewed free of charge, or a certified full extract ordered against a fee.

Publication is not optional or discretionary: every entry in the Commercial Register is published in its entire content in the elektronisches Amtsblatt (electronic official gazette), which is the official publication organ of the Principality and can be consulted at amtsblatt.llv.li. The chronology of a Liechtenstein entity is therefore traceable through the gazette as well as through the register itself.

Liechtenstein uses one register for legal entities and for individual entrepreneurs alike. An Einzelfirma (sole proprietorship) is entered in the same Handelsregister as a joint stock company. Entry is compulsory where a commercial, manufacturing or otherwise mercantile business is carried on; it is optional where annual turnover stays below CHF 300,000 — except in financial services, insurance, brokerage and advisory activities, which must always be registered whatever the turnover. The purpose stated in the register normally mirrors the trade licence issued by the Amt für Volkswirtschaft (Office of Economic Affairs).

Alongside the Commercial Register the same Office of Justice keeps the Grundbuch (Land Register), the Verzeichnis der wirtschaftlich berechtigten Personen, VwbP (Register of Beneficial Owners) and the Zentrales Kontenregister, ZKR (Central Register of Accounts), and houses the Stiftungs- und Trustaufsicht (Foundation and Trust Supervision) with the anti-money-laundering unit. A separate public register, the Öffentliches Gewerberegister (Public Trade Register) at gewerberegister.llv.li, lists trade authorisations, so existence in the Commercial Register and the right to carry on a regulated trade are two separate checks.

Registration and deposit — the distinction that matters most

Not every Liechtenstein legal structure appears in the public index. Alongside Eintragung (registration) the PGR provides for Hinterlegung (deposit):

  • Foundations. A gemeinnützige Stiftung (public-benefit foundation), and a private-benefit foundation that runs a commercial business, must be entered in the Commercial Register and acquires legal personality through that entry. A privatnützige Stiftung (private-benefit foundation) that does not carry on a commercial business instead deposits a Gründungsanzeige (founding notice) with the Office of Justice within thirty days of establishment. It may register voluntarily, but as a rule it does not, which is why the great majority of Liechtenstein family foundations cannot be found in the public index.
  • Trusts. A Treuhänderschaft (trust relationship) intended to last more than twelve months must be notified within thirty days of its creation — either by registration in the Commercial Register or, for a private (non-charitable) trust, by depositing the original or a certified copy of the trust deed with the Office of Justice. Subsequent changes must be notified within the same thirty-day period, and failure to comply can be sanctioned by the court.

Legal forms that can be registered in Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein has an unusually long catalogue of registrable forms — the register itself distinguishes more than thirty categories. The names below are the official German ones used by the Handelsregister.

Sole traders, partnerships and companies:

  • Einzelfirma (Sole proprietorship) — a business carried on by one individual who is personally liable without limit with his entire assets; additional signing authorities may be registered.
  • Kollektivgesellschaft (General partnership) — two or more partners trading under a common name, each liable without limit for the partnership’s obligations.
  • Kollektivgesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, Art. 755 PGR (General partnership with limited liability) — a partnership variant provided for by Article 755 PGR in which the partners’ liability is capped, listed by the register as a category of its own.
  • Kommanditgesellschaft (Limited partnership) — combines partners with unlimited liability, who manage the business, with Kommanditäre whose liability is limited to their contribution.
  • Kommanditärengesellschaft (Partnership of limited partners) — a separate register category for partnerships constituted of limited partners, encountered in practice mainly in investment structures.
  • Aktiengesellschaft, AG (Company limited by shares) — the principal corporate form: share capital divided into shares, shareholders liable only for their subscription, managed by a Verwaltungsrat (administrative board) and audited or reviewed by a Revisionsstelle.
  • Kommanditaktiengesellschaft, KAG (Partnership limited by shares) — shareholders alongside at least one partner with unlimited liability who conducts the business.
  • Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH (Limited liability company) — capital divided into Stammeinlagen, members liable only up to their contribution; can be incorporated online.
  • Anteilsgesellschaft (Company with capital divided into participations) — a further register category for entities whose capital is split into Anteile rather than shares.
  • Genossenschaft (Cooperative) — a member-based body pursuing the mutual economic promotion of its members.
  • Gemeinwirtschaftliche Unternehmung (Public-utility undertaking) — an entity dedicated to an activity in the common economic interest.
  • Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit und Hilfskassen (Mutual insurance association and relief funds) — mutual bodies whose members are their insured.

Asset-holding and fiduciary forms characteristic of Liechtenstein:

  • Anstalt (Establishment) — a legal entity with no shareholders and no share capital but an Anstaltsfonds (establishment fund), which may be contributed in cash or in kind. It is run by a Verwaltung (administration) and needs a Revisionsstelle if it carries on a commercial business. Flexible enough to be used for both trading and pure asset holding, it exists in essentially this form only in Liechtenstein.
  • Eingetragene Stiftung (Registered foundation) — a foundation with separated assets and no members, governed by a Stiftungsrat (foundation council); public-benefit foundations and commercially active private foundations belong here.
  • Eingetragenes Treuunternehmen (Registered trust enterprise) — the “reg. Treuunternehmen”, a trust-based entity with its own legal personality, a form peculiar to Liechtenstein law.
  • Eingetragene Treuhänderschaft (Registered trust relationship) — a trust in which a settlor transfers assets to a trustee who holds and manages them in his own name for beneficiaries or a purpose; it has no legal personality of its own.
  • Kollektivtreuhänderschaft, Unit Trust (Collective trust relationship) — a collective investment structure built on the trust relationship.
  • Verein (Association) — a membership body for non-commercial purposes, registered where the law requires it.
  • Öffentlich-rechtliche Anstalt and Öffentlich-rechtliche Stiftung (Establishment and foundation under public law) — bodies created by or under statute for public tasks.

European and cross-border forms:

  • Europäische Gesellschaft, SE (European company) and Europäische Genossenschaft, SCE (European cooperative society) — the EEA forms, available in Liechtenstein through its membership of the European Economic Area.
  • Europäische wirtschaftliche Interessenvereinigung, EWIV (European Economic Interest Grouping) — a cross-border cooperation vehicle whose members remain liable without limit.
  • Zweigniederlassung einer Unternehmung mit Hauptsitz im EWR (Branch of an undertaking with its head office in the EEA) and Zweigniederlassung einer Unternehmung mit Hauptsitz ausserhalb des EWR (Branch of an undertaking with its head office outside the EEA) — the register keeps these as two distinct categories, because the filing requirements differ.

Investment and fund vehicles appear as separate register categories rather than as ordinary companies: Investmentgesellschaft – Aktiengesellschaft, Investmentgesellschaft – Stiftung, Investmentgesellschaft – SE, Investmentgesellschaft – Anstalt mit zerlegtem Kapital, Investmentgesellschaft – Anstalt ohne zerlegtes Kapital, Anlage-Kommanditgesellschaft and Anlage-Kommanditärengesellschaft.

One point saves a lot of confusion when reading older material: since the reform of Liechtenstein foundation law, a private-benefit foundation comes into existence on its formation and merely deposits a founding notice. Its absence from the public index is therefore not evidence that it does not exist.

Information available from the register

The statutory position is stated plainly by the Office of Justice: the Commercial Register, including the applications and the supporting documents, is public, and anyone is entitled, against a fee, to inspect the entries and the Belege and written instruments on which those entries are based. That is a wider right of access than most registers grant, because it reaches the underlying file and not merely the extract.

The free Firmenindex gives a partial extract of every registered entity. Taking a company limited by shares as the example, the registered particulars comprise the Firma (name), legal form and registered seat, the share capital and the amount paid in, the number, nominal value and class of the shares, the purpose of the undertaking, the date of the articles of association, the members of the administrative board with full name, date of birth, nationality, address and the nature of their signing authority, the Revisionsstelle or the declaration waiving the review, the custodian where bearer shares are issued, the balance-sheet date, the form and medium in which the entity publishes its announcements, and any branch offices.

Behind the entry sit the Belege, which for an incorporation include the publicly notarised deed of formation, the articles of association signed by all founders, the bank confirmation that the capital has been paid into a blocked account, the acceptance declarations of the board members, auditor and custodian, the declaration that no ground of disqualification exists, the Firmazeichnungserklärung with certified specimen signatures, any required approval of the financial market authority, and, for contributions in kind, the expert’s report and the contribution and transfer agreements.

Annual accounts are filed and public for the main corporate forms. A company limited by shares, a partnership limited by shares, a limited liability company and an SE must lodge their approved annual financial statements with the Commercial Register, together with the audit report where one is required, within twelve months of the end of the financial year; general and limited partnerships fall under the duty where corporate partners are involved, with an EEA alternative of keeping the documents available for inspection at the registered office. Medium-sized and large undertakings are audited, small and micro undertakings reviewed, and a micro undertaking carrying on a commercial business may waive the review — except protected cell companies and companies with bearer shares.

Finally, the register office also performs Vorprüfungen and name clearances, so the availability and admissibility of a proposed company name can be checked before incorporation, and it provides access to the interconnected registers of the other EEA states.

What the register does not disclose

Deposited files are closed. Inspection, extracts, copies or certificates of the files and documents deposited under Article 990 PGR, and of the applications and supporting documents of foundations and trust relationships that are not entered in the Commercial Register, may be requested only by the depositor and by a person authorised to do so. Third parties can obtain no more than certain particulars — the name, the seat, the members of the foundation council and the like — and only by way of an Amtsbestätigung (official confirmation) issued by the Office of Justice. Beneficiaries and the content of by-laws remain confidential.

The beneficial ownership register is not public. The VwbP records, for domestic legal entities and for foreign trusts with a Liechtenstein connection, the name, first name, date of birth, nationality and country of residence of the beneficial owners — natural persons holding twenty-five per cent or more of shares, votes or profit participation, members of governing bodies, and the founders, beneficiaries and trustees of foundations and trusts. Access is confined to domestic financial intermediaries, banks in EEA member states and in equivalent third countries, domestic compliance officers, designated authorities and, only in narrowly defined cases of justified interest, third parties, with the Office of Justice or the VwbP Commission deciding.

The VwbP has moreover been taken offline following a cyberattack. During the night of 29 to 30 July 2026 unauthorised third parties obtained digital access to the register and copied data; irregularities were detected on 30 July and confirmed on 1 August, and data relating to some 31,000 legal entities was exfiltrated. There is no indication that data in the system was altered or deleted. The affected system was immediately secured and taken offline, a government crisis unit was set up, and the register remains unavailable to external users through the llv.li portal for the time being; other systems holding sensitive data were reviewed as a precaution. The Commercial Register itself was not affected and continues to operate.

Two further limits are worth noting. Entities outside the disclosure duty — an Anstalt or a foundation without commercial activity, for instance — file no accounts, so no financial information about them is publicly available. And access to entries and Belege, though open to everyone, is chargeable, and full extracts are issued only in certified form.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Beglaubigter Handelsregisterauszug, Vollauszug (Certified full extract from the Commercial Register) — the complete official extract for a registered entity, showing identity, seat, purpose, capital, organs and signing authorities. Issued only in certified form and used for banking, notarial acts, tenders and cross-border transactions.
  • Teilauszug aus dem Firmenindex (Partial extract from the index of companies) — the free online extract confirming that an entity is registered and giving its core particulars; the everyday first check on a counterparty.
  • Statuten or Gesellschaftsvertrag (Articles of association or partnership agreement) — the constitutional document setting out purpose, capital, organs, decision thresholds and transfer rules; needed to establish whether a signatory could bind the entity.
  • Gründungsurkunde (Notarised deed of formation) — the publicly notarised instrument by which the entity was created, together with the founders’ declarations.
  • Anmeldungen und Belege (Applications and supporting documents) — the whole file behind each entry: capital confirmations, acceptance declarations, expert reports on contributions in kind, transfer agreements and regulatory approvals. Open to inspection by anyone against a fee.
  • Firmazeichnungserklärung (Declaration of signature with certified specimen signatures) — evidences who signs for the entity and in what combination.
  • Jahresrechnung mit Revisions- oder Prüfungsbericht (Annual financial statements with the audit or review report) — the accounts lodged by companies limited by shares, partnerships limited by shares, limited liability companies and SEs, and the basis of any credit or counterparty analysis.
  • Amtsbestätigung (Official confirmation) — the confirmation by which limited particulars of a deposited foundation or trust, such as its name, seat and the members of its foundation council, may be disclosed to a third party; the only route to information about non-registered structures.
  • Bekanntmachungen im elektronischen Amtsblatt (Notices in the electronic official gazette) — the full published text of every entry and change, which together form the public chronology of the entity.
  • Auszug aus dem Gewerberegister (Extract from the Trade Register) — confirmation of the trade authorisation held, obtained from the Office of Economic Affairs rather than from the Commercial Register.
  • Auszug oder Bestätigung aus dem VwbP (Extract or confirmation from the Register of Beneficial Owners) — available only to the entity concerned and to the categories of applicant entitled under the beneficial ownership legislation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in Liechtenstein?

It is the Handelsregister (Commercial Register), kept by the Amt für Justiz (Office of Justice) under the Personen- und Gesellschaftsrecht of 20 January 1926. The public index of companies is published at handelsregister.li, and every entry is additionally published in the electronic official gazette.

Is the Liechtenstein commercial register free to search?

Partly. A partial extract of every registered entity and of further legal facts can be viewed free of charge in the online index of companies. A certified full extract, and inspection of the applications and supporting documents, are chargeable.

Why can I not find a Liechtenstein foundation in the register?

Because a private-benefit foundation that does not carry on a commercial business is not registered: it deposits a founding notice with the Office of Justice within thirty days of establishment. Only public-benefit foundations and commercially active private foundations are entered in the Commercial Register.

Are the accounts of Liechtenstein companies public?

For the main corporate forms, yes. A company limited by shares, a partnership limited by shares, a limited liability company and an SE must lodge their approved annual accounts, with the audit report where required, within twelve months of the year end. Entities outside that duty file nothing.

Can I find the beneficial owner of a Liechtenstein entity?

Not as a member of the public. Beneficial ownership data is held in the VwbP, whose access is restricted to financial intermediaries, designated authorities and, in narrow cases of justified interest, third parties. The register has also been offline to external users since a cyberattack in late July 2026 in which data on about 31,000 legal entities was copied.

What is an Anstalt?

An establishment: a Liechtenstein legal entity with no shareholders and no share capital, endowed instead with an Anstaltsfonds and run by a Verwaltung. It can be used for trading or for pure asset holding, needs an audit body if it carries on a commercial business, and is registered in the Commercial Register like a company.

Sources

Keywords

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