Liechtenstein Hunts Hackers as Data on 31,000 Funds Breached
(Bloomberg) — Liechtenstein is racing to identify the hackers behind a large-scale data breach at the government’s confidential registry of foundations and trusts.
Authorities are “working around the clock” to find out the purpose of the attack and the entity behind it, Liechtenstein Prime Minister Brigitte Haas said during a conference with journalists on Tuesday. Hackers accessed data on the names and residencies of the beneficial owners of some 31,000 entities registered in the country in a breach which first came to light last week.
Hackers infiltrated Liechtenstein’s registry of beneficial owners on the night between July 29 and 30, according to the government. The registry, set up in 2021 to comply with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing directives, contains information about who ultimately controls money associated with the trusts and foundations.
Attackers had access to the registry for several hours, the head of the office of information technology, Fabian Schmid, said during the press conference. There were also no indications that the data of the registry was modified or deleted, or that other systems had been attacked, he said.
Liechtenstein, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, is one of Europe’s smallest countries but punches above its weight financially. The principality is home to internationally active wealth managers including LGT Bank and Liechtensteinische Landesbank. The country’s opaque legal entities have been associated with money laundering and tax evasion scandals in the past.
Klaus Zumwinkel, then chief executive officer of Deutsche Post, was forced to resign from his position following allegations of tax evasion in 2008. Leaked documents allegedly showed how he evaded taxes in Germany by placing money in a foundation in Liechtenstein.
The Pandora Papers, an investigation published in 2021, uncovered how world leaders, public officials and more used foundations in Liechtenstein, among other countries, to hide their wealth.
Liechtenstein’s register of beneficial owners was created in 2021 in response to earlier criticism of its stance on tax evasion and money laundering. It isn’t searchable by members of the public, however, following a European court ruling that judged that such registers can infringe on privacy rights.
The government said on Tuesday that it has for years followed a “clean money strategy” and is implementing international standards. Haas said that the data affected was limited to the names, birth dates, nationality and residence of beneficial owners. No addresses, telephone numbers or financial data was included, she said.
The system holding the data has temporarily been taken offline, the government said. That did not mean however that money laundering controls have been suspended, Haas said.
Hackers have previously zeroed in on neighboring Switzerland to demonstrate its role as a haven for shady money. The massive Panama Papers leaks in 2016 exposed how a network of Geneva lawyers created shell companies and in some cases fronted them themselves for clients looking to hide money. This spurred Swiss lawmakers to create a register of beneficial ownership and impose greater disclosure rules on lawyers, a process that is still ongoing but which has faced pushback from some in Switzerland.
–With assistance from Hugo Miller.
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