National Bank of Liechtenstein

National Bank of Liechtenstein
Liechtensteinische Landesbank

Headquarters
Headquarters	Vaduz
Established	1861
Chairman	Georg Wohlwend
Central bank of	Liechtenstein
Currency	Liechtenstein frank = Swiss franc CHF (ISO 4217)
Website	www.llb.li

The National Bank of Liechtenstein (German: Liechtensteinische Landesbank) is a bank located in Liechtenstein, based in the capital city Vaduz. Since 1993 it has been listed as a company at the Swiss Stock Exchange, with the majority of shares (57.5%) owned by the Liechtenstein state. As the state is in a customs and monetary union with Switzerland and have adopted the Swiss franc as official currency, the monetary policy and money supply is the sole responsibility of the Swiss National Bank.

Tasks

Due to Liechtenstein's signed valuta union agreement with Switzerland and its adoption of the Swiss franc as its official currency, the Swiss National Bank performs most duties in administration of macro finance, currency and credit of banks. The National Bank of Liechtenstein however is responsible for the following three tasks:

1. "To be secretariat for the Government in the administration of macro finance, currency, credit of Banks within the country."
2. "To promote and maintain stability of price within the country; strengthen the efficiency of payments mechanism."
3. "To promote and facilitate control on the flows of money to serve the socio-economic development plan of the Liechtenstein."

Monetary policy

The monetary policy is not conducted by the Nationalbank of Liechtenstein, but by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) which operates as an independent central bank for the CHF currency. The SNB is obliged by Constitution and statute to act in accordance with the interests of the Swiss country as a whole. Its primary goal is to ensure price stability, while taking due account of economic developments. In so doing, it creates an appropriate environment for economic growth.

Cash supply and distribution

The Swiss National Bank is entrusted with the note-issuing privilege. It supplies the economy with banknotes that meet high standards with respect to quality and security. It is also charged by the Confederation with the task of coin distribution.

Cashless payment transactions

In the field of cashless payment transactions, the Swiss National Bank provides services for payments between banks. These are settled in the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) system via sight deposit accounts held with the Swiss National Bank.

Directors (Group Chief Executive Officer)

• Eduard Batliner, 1928-1967
• Josef Hilti, 1967-1971
• Werner Strub, 1971-1979
• Karlheinz Heeb, 1979-1996
• René Kästli, 1996-1999
• Josef Fehr, 2000-2012
• Roland Matt, 2012-

Monetary policy

The SNB pursues a monetary policy serving the interests of the country as a whole. It must ensure price stability, while taking due account of economic developments. Monetary policy affects production and prices with a considerable time lag. Consequently, it is based on inflation forecasts rather than current inflation. The SNB's monetary policy strategy consists of three elements: a definition of price stability (the SNB equates price stability with a rise in the national consumer price index of less than 2% per year), a medium-term conditional inflation forecast, and, at operational level, a target range for a reference interest rate, which is the Libor for three-month investments in Swiss francs.

General Meeting of Shareholders

Since 1993 the National bank of Liechtenstein has been listed as a company at the Swiss Stock Exchange, with the majority of shares (57.5%) owned by the Liechtenstein state.

See also

• Economy of Liechtenstein
• Liechtenstein frank
• Swiss franc
• SARON (Swiss Average Rate Overnight)
• Financial Market Authority (Liechtenstein) (FMA)

External links

• Official site: National bank of Liechtenstein
• Swiss and World Interest Rates, updated by ForexMotion.com.