Key Benefits:
Translation 1
(State on 21 April 2009)
The Swiss Federal Council and His Serene Highness the Prince Regnant of Liechtenstein,
Considering the close and good neighbourly relations between Switzerland and Liechtenstein;
Wishing to consolidate the economic relations existing in this field between the two Parties and to promote, in accordance with fair conditions of competition, the harmonious development of these relations, while guaranteeing protection Insured persons;
In view of the fact that Liechtenstein is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) since 1 Er May 1995 and its Law on Insurance Supervision (Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz/VAG) came into force on 1 July 1995. Er January 1996;
Having regard to the equivalence of the law between Switzerland and Liechtenstein in the field of supervision of undertakings and insurance intermediaries, taking into account the provisions of this Agreement; 4
Resolved to eliminate, on a basis of reciprocity and non-discrimination, the obstacles to access to and exercise of direct insurance and insurance intermediation activities in the territory of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Introduce the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services, limited to their two territories; 5
Agreed, in pursuit of these objectives, to conclude this Agreement and have designated to that effect as Plenipotentiaries:
(Following are the names of plenipotentiaries)
Which, after having exchanged their full powers, recognised in good and due form,
Agreed to the following provisions:
The purpose of this Agreement is to establish, on a reciprocal basis, the necessary and sufficient conditions for:
1 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
This Agreement shall apply to:
1 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
This Agreement shall apply to the territories of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
1 The Contracting Parties shall note that their respective rights in the field of supervision of undertakings and insurance intermediaries, taking into account the provisions of this Agreement, contain equivalent regulation in respect of: 1
2 This shall be valid at the time of signature of this Agreement. It shall be reconsidered in any modification of domestic law in accordance with the procedure laid down in Art. 11.
1 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
2 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
3 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
4 Introduced by Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
1 Insurance undertakings which have their registered office in the territory of a Contracting Party may carry on their business in the territory of the other Contracting Party through an establishment or under the free provision of Services.
2 Insurance intermediaries who are registered in the territory of a Contracting Party may carry on their business in the territory of the other Contracting Party. 1
3 The provisions necessary to complete the domestic law are contained in the Annex. 2
1 Introduced by Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
2 Formerly al. 2.
The law in force in each Contracting Party shall be applicable to matters not governed by this Agreement and to matters falling within the scope of this Agreement, to the extent that they are not governed by this Agreement.
1 The insurance supervisory authorities of the Contracting Parties shall cooperate directly in their supervisory tasks.
2 They shall communicate all documents and information relevant to the exercise of supervision and undertake to use the information thus exchanged only in order to carry out their monitoring mission.
3 The supervisory authorities are not required to provide information which would reveal a trade secret of the insurance undertakings concerned, or whose communication would be contrary to public policy.
4 The s. 1-3 shall apply by analogy to the supervision of insurance intermediaries. 1
1 Introduced by Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
1 A Joint Committee shall be set up, composed of representatives of the Contracting Parties, which shall be responsible for the implementation of the Agreement and, in the cases provided for by the Agreement, to take decisions. The committee acts by mutual agreement.
2 For the purposes of the proper implementation of the Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall exchange information and, at the request of one of them, shall consult each other in the Joint Committee.
3 The Joint Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure.
4 The chairmanship of the Joint Committee shall be exercised in turn by each of the Contracting Parties in accordance with arrangements to be provided for in the internal rules of procedure. At the request of one of the Contracting Parties and under conditions to be provided for in the internal rules of procedure, the Joint Committee shall meet on convocation by its President whenever a particular necessity requires it.
5 The Joint Committee may constitute any working group to assist it in the performance of its tasks.
1 If a dispute arises between the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or performance of this Agreement and the dispute cannot be resolved by cooperation between supervisory authorities, referred to in Art. 7, or by the Joint Committee, referred to in s. 8, the Contracting Parties shall consult each other through diplomatic channels.
2 If the dispute has not been resolved by that means, it shall be submitted, at the request of either party, to a three-member arbitral tribunal. That court may be seized, at the earliest, after a period of six months after the first referral to the Joint Committee referred to in Art. 8, unless the parties agree to submit, before the expiration of that period, their dispute to the Court. Each party will appoint an arbitrator. The two arbitrators thus appointed shall appoint an arbitrator who shall not be a national of either Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
3 If either Contracting Party has not designated its arbitrator and has not acted upon the invitation of the other Party to do so within two months of the appointment, the arbitrator shall be appointed, at the request of that Party, by the President of the International Court of Justice.
4 If the two arbitrators cannot agree on the choice of an arbitrator within two months of their appointment, the arbitrator shall be appointed, at the request of one of the parties, by the President of the International Court of Justice.
5 If, in the cases provided for in para. 3 and 4 of this article, the President of the International Court of Justice shall be prevented or if he is a national of Switzerland or Liechtenstein, the appointments shall be made by the Vice-Chairperson. If the latter is prevented or if he is a national of Switzerland or Liechtenstein, the appointments will be made by the oldest member of the Court who is not a national of Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
6 Unless otherwise provided by the Contracting Parties, the court shall itself lay down its rules of procedure. It shall take its decisions by a majority of the votes.
7 The decisions of the court are binding on the Contracting Parties.
1 This Agreement shall in no way affect the relations of insurance undertakings having their registered office in the territory of a Contracting Party with the countries of the European Union or of the European Economic Area, or with other countries, and Vice versa.
2 L' al. 1 shall apply mutatis mutandis to insurance intermediaries registered in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties. 1
1 Introduced by Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
1 This Agreement shall not prejudice the right of each Contracting Party to amend its domestic legislation independently on a point governed by this Agreement, provided that it respects the principle of non-discrimination and that it has Informed the other Contracting Party.
2 Through the Joint Committee, each Contracting Party shall inform the other Contracting Party of the modifications it intends to make to its domestic legislation on matters governed by this Agreement, as soon as possible, but to the Later in the two months preceding their entry into force.
3 The Joint Committee is considering the implications of these amendments for the proper functioning of the Agreement. It recommends possible amendments to this Agreement and decides, if necessary, to amend the Annex. These decisions must be confirmed in an exchange of diplomatic notes.
If a Contracting Party wishes to revise this Agreement, it requests the other Contracting Party to enter into negotiations to that effect. This request is presented through diplomatic channels.
Each Contracting Party may at any time denounce this Agreement by notification to the other Contracting Party. The Agreement shall cease to be in force twelve months after the date of notification.
The Annex to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.
1 This Agreement shall be subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification will be exchanged in Bern.
2 This Agreement shall enter into force on the day on which the instruments of ratification are exchanged.
In witness whereof, The undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed this Agreement.
Done at Berne, in duplicate in German, on December 19, 1996.
The approval given by a Contracting Party to carry out the activity of insurance shall be valid for the territory of both Contracting Parties to the extent that the following conditions are met.
1 The country of the seat, within the meaning of this Agreement, shall designate the Contracting Party in whose territory a company has its registered office.
2 The country of activity, within the meaning of this Agreement, means the Contracting Party in whose territory a business operates under the freedom to provide services or through an establishment, without having its registered office Social.
3 By establishment, within the meaning of this Agreement, an agency, branch or office managed as an agency and in a sustainable manner by the staff of the insurance undertaking or by an independent person authorised by it.
4 There shall be freedom to provide service, within the meaning of this Agreement, where a business covers, from the country in which it has its head office, risks located in the territory of the other Contracting Party without going through an establishment.
5 An insurance undertaking in Liechtenstein, within the meaning of this Agreement, shall be defined as any insurance undertaking which has its registered office in Liechtenstein.
6 A Swiss insurance undertaking, within the meaning of this Agreement, shall be defined as any insurance undertaking which has its registered office in Switzerland.
The financial supervision of an insurance undertaking, including its activities carried out through an establishment or a system of freedom to provide services, falls within the exclusive competence of the supervisory authority of the country of Seat.
2. Financial supervision shall include, in particular, the examination, for all the business of the insurance undertaking, of its solvency, of the establishment of technical provisions and of representative assets.
3. Supervision of insurance undertakings with regard to money laundering is regulated in chap. IV.
1 Where an insurance undertaking carries on business through an establishment, the supervisory authority of the country of the seat may, after informing the supervisory authority of the country of activity, carry out its own activity or by The intermediary of persons authorised for this purpose the on-site inspections necessary for the financial supervision of the undertaking.
2 The monitoring authority of the country of activity may participate in these inspections.
Each insurance undertaking shall constitute sufficient technical provisions for its activities in the territory of the two Contracting Parties and shall be covered by representative assets.
The provisional measures provided for by a Contracting Party in its legislation shall also apply where the insured persons of the other Contracting Party are concerned.
1 Where an insurance undertaking transfers to an assignee of the country of activity all or part of its portfolio of contracts entered into through an establishment or under the freedom to provide services, only the authorisation of The supervisory authority of the country of the seat is required.
2 The authorisation shall be granted if an attestation from the supervisory authority of the country of activity proves that the assignee, having regard to the transfer, has equity equivalent to the solvency margin and whether the interests of the insured persons are Saved.
1 If an insurance undertaking does not comply with the rules of law of the country of activity, the supervisory authority of the country of headquarters shall, at the request of the supervisory authority of the country of activity, invite that undertaking to terminate this situation Irregular by all appropriate means.
2 If the irregularities persist, the supervisory authority of the country of activity may, after having informed the supervisory authority of the country of the seat, prohibit the undertaking from continuing its activities in the country of activity as well as ordering all Necessary measures.
Each insurance undertaking shall report to the supervisory authority of the country in which the business is located in the country of activity, broken down by insurance industry. Cases concluded under the free provision of services must be separated from those concluded through an establishment. The supervisory authority of the country of the seat shall transmit this information annually to the supervisory authority of the country of activity, by no later than the end of September.
Swiss insurance undertakings may carry on business in Liechtenstein through an establishment or under the freedom to provide services without additional authorisation, provided that they comply with the requirements Set out below. In Liechtenstein, they are subject to the same rules as enterprises having their registered office in an EEA State.
1 The insurance undertaking must notify the Swiss Supervisory Authority of its intention to establish an establishment in Liechtenstein.
2 Such notification shall contain the following particulars:
1 Within three months of receipt of the above-mentioned indications, the Swiss Supervisory Authority shall verify, in addition to the lawfulness of the project, the adequacy of the administrative structures, the financial situation of the undertaking and the respect of the Requirements for the general agent and management.
2 If all is in order, it shall communicate to the Liechtenstein supervisory authority the particulars and certificates which Liechtenstein requires of the EEA countries.
The insurance undertaking shall notify the Swiss Supervisory Authority in writing of the changes affecting the particulars referred to in Art. 11, not later than one month before application. The Swiss Supervisory Authority shall promptly transmit these amendments to the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein.
1 An insurance undertaking wishing to exercise its activity under the freedom to provide services must notify it to the Swiss supervisory authority. On this occasion, it must indicate the insurance industries it intends to practice in Liechtenstein and the risks it will cover.
2 The Swiss Supervisory Authority shall verify the legality of the project within one month of receiving the necessary information.
3 If everything is in order, it transmits to the Liechtenstein supervisory authority the indications and certificates that Liechtenstein requires of the supervisory authorities of the EEA countries.
The insurance undertaking shall notify the Swiss Supervisory Authority in writing of the changes affecting the particulars referred to in Art. 14, not later than one month before application. The Swiss Supervisory Authority shall promptly transmit these amendments to the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein.
Liechtenstein insurance undertakings may carry on their business in Switzerland through an establishment or under the freedom to provide services without additional authorisation, provided that they comply with the requirements Set out below.
Liechtenstein companies are subject to the same obligation in Switzerland to inform their customers in Liechtenstein.
A company must immediately inform the Swiss supervisory authority of a possible withdrawal of authorisation in Liechtenstein.
Access to insurance activity in Switzerland through an establishment is authorised only if the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein provides the following indications and attestations to the Swiss supervisory authority:
Within two months of receipt of the above-mentioned indications and certificates, the Swiss Supervisory Authority shall communicate to the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein and to the insurance undertaking the conditions under which, for Public interest, the activity must be carried out in Switzerland.
The establishment may commence business in Switzerland as soon as the conditions of exercise relating to the general interest have been communicated to it, but no later than the expiry of the two-month period mentioned above.
The insurance undertaking shall notify the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein in writing of the changes affecting the particulars referred to in Art. 19, not later than one month before application. The supervisory authority of Liechtenstein shall, without delay, forward these amendments to the Swiss Supervisory Authority.
1 An insurance undertaking wishing to conclude insurance contracts under the free provision of services in Switzerland shall have access to that activity and exercise it only if the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein provides the authority with Swiss surveillance the following indications and testimonials:
2 The company may start operating in Switzerland from the moment the Swiss supervisory authority is in possession of these documents.
A company that wishes to practice motor vehicle civil liability insurance must also:
The representative referred to in s. 24 is responsible for performing the following tasks:
The insurance undertaking shall notify the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein in writing of the changes affecting the particulars referred to in Art. 23 and 24, no later than one month before their application. The supervisory authority of Liechtenstein shall, without delay, forward these amendments to the Swiss Supervisory Authority.
Supervision in the field of money laundering shall be the responsibility of the competent authority of the country of activity for the business of establishment and of the country of the seat in the case of freedom to provide services.
2. The term "business of establishment" means insurance contracts concluded by an establishment in the country of activity and by business of the freedom to provide services, insurance contracts concluded in the country of activity from the country of the The insurance undertaking.
In the field of money laundering, establishment cases are subject to the law of the country of activity and the cases of freedom to provide services, subject to para. 2, to the law of the country of the seat.
2. Amounts set out in s. 4, para. 2, let. B and c, of the law of the Principality of Liechtenstein of 22 May 1996 on the duty of professional diligence in matters of financial affairs (Sorgfaltspflichtgesetz) also apply to cases of freedom to provide services concluded In the Principality of Liechtenstein by Swiss insurance companies.
1 By country of the registered office within the meaning of this Agreement, the Contracting Party shall be heard in the territory of which the insurance intermediary is registered.
2 An insurance intermediary in the meaning of this Agreement means an insurance or reinsurance intermediary, registered in a Contracting Party.
3 Insurance intermediation within the meaning of this Agreement shall mean any insurance and reinsurance intermediation.
1 If an insurance intermediary does not comply with the rules of law of a party to the agreement, the supervisory authority of the country of the seat shall, at the request of the other supervisory authority, invite that intermediary to terminate this situation Irregular by all appropriate means.
2 If the irregularities persist, the supervisory authority concerned may, after notifying the supervisory authority of the country of the seat, prohibit the intermediary of insurance from continuing its activities in its country as well as ordering all Necessary measures.
1 Where an insurance intermediary carries on business through an office located in the territory of the other Contracting Party, the supervisory authority of the country of the seat may carry out on-the-spot inspections, after having informed the other Supervisory authority, itself or through the intermediary of persons authorised to do so.
2 The other supervisory authority may participate in these inspections.
Insurance intermediaries who are registered in the territory of a Contracting Party may carry on their business in the territory of the other Contracting Party without additional registration or registration, provided that they Comply with the following conditions.
Where an insurance intermediary has, as financial security, an insurance of professional civil liability, the territorial scope of that insurance must include the territory of the two Contracting Parties.
1 For their activity in Liechtenstein, insurance intermediaries registered in Switzerland are subject to the same rules as insurance intermediaries registered in an EEA State, with the exception of para. 2.
2 They can start their business without informing the Swiss supervisory authority.
1 Insurance intermediaries registered in Liechtenstein wishing to carry on their business in Switzerland are required to announce it to the supervisory authority of Liechtenstein.
2 They can start their business as soon as they have fulfilled this obligation.
3 For their activity in Switzerland, they are subject to the same obligations to inform and advise clients as in Liechtenstein.
1 Update according to Art. 2 of D 2/2001 of the Switzerland-Liechtenstein Mixed Commission of 19 Dec. 2001 ( RO 2004 2327 ), art. 1 of D 5/2003 of the Liechtenstein-Switzerland Mixed Commission of 19 Dec. 2003 (RO 2004 2447) and art. 2 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 (RO 2007 3767, 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
1 The original text is published, under the same number, in the German edition of this compendium.
2 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
3 RO 2001 174
4 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
5 New content according to Art. 1 of the Ac. Of 20 June 2007, approved by the Ass. Fed. June 13, 2008 and effective April 21, 2009 ( RO 2007 3767 , 2009 2561 2563; FF 2007 8005 ).
