Industry initiatives and corporate citizenship

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The legal performance mandate of LLB defines the promotion of Liechtenstein as a workplace as its core task. The LLB Group is further committed, as part of various industry initiatives, to a sustainable banking centre and supports various ecological, social and cultural projects (see section “Sponsoring”). We contribute in this way actively to the prosperity of the population and to the sustainable development of Liechtenstein (see chapter “Personal and Corporate Client Division”).

Economic contribution

The LLB Group bases its business policy on market conditions and strives to generate a reasonable profit, all the while respecting ethical and ecological principles. After all, the LLB Group plays an important role in Liechtenstein’s economy: its contribution – dividends and direct taxes – amounted to CHF 43.8 million in 2021 (2020: CHF 47.2 million). LLB receives no financial support for its banks or Group companies in Liechtenstein, Switzerland or Austria from any government. As a bank of systemic importance, it is subject to particularly strict financial market regulation and high capital adequacy requirements. With the implementation of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV) and the establishment of the Deposit Guarantee and Investor Compensation Foundation (EAS), Liechtenstein has a modern guarantee system, which guarantees an adequate equity base and protection of client deposits (see chapter “Values and corporate management”).

Major employer in the region

It is important to the LLB Group that its managers understand the mindset and concerns of its clients. And for this reason, almost all of the managers and the majority of employees in the main business locations have their roots in their respective region. As a result, they are highly dedicated to the company and have a high level of integrity. They also take a longer-term view, which is very much appreciated by the clients.

To meet the demand for skilled employees, LLB AG relies on commuters who come every day from eastern Switzerland and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg to Liechtenstein. This makes LLB a major regional employer in the Rhine Valley. Bank Linth recruits almost all of its professionals from the Swiss regions of Lake Zurich, Sarganserland and Winterthur.

Participation in industry initiatives

The LLB Group derives from its corporate values and its guiding principles a strong commitment to responsible banking. By participating in various industry initiatives, we bring our ideals to the financial industry and also advance our goals; this applies not least to the area of sustainability.

As an active member of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association (LBA), LLB AG is committed to making Liechtenstein a sustainable financial centre. It has long worked within the framework of the LBA towards making sustainable finance an important pillar of the banking centre’s strategy. Behind this is the understanding that the financial industry is crucial in the transformation towards a more sustainable economy.

Moved by conviction to do the right thing, we joined the UN Net-Zero Banking Alliance in 2021. We plan in 2022 to become a member of The Climate Pledge. Following our membership in summer 2020 of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) Finance Initiative, we are also committed to the goal of responsible investment management. Social and ecological issues are central to this (see chapter “Responsibilities for the economy, society and environment”). And last but not least, its membership of the Principles for Responsible Banking initiative, which the LLB Group took up back in 2020, underlines its increased commitment to sustainability and climate protection.

Sponsoring

When it comes to the positioning and visibility of the LLB Group, the area of sponsoring and events plays a central role. The aim of our sponsoring strategy is to gain stakeholders as brand ambassadors. We observe thereby the following principles:

• We want our four values (integrity, respectfulness, excellence and pioneering) to be experienced on an emotional and professional level through our activities.
• We strengthen and enable platforms and partnerships which fit us best.
• We explain what the LLB Group stands for simply, using topic pyramids.
• We coordinate partnerships and our own events Group-wide using a management tool.

The focus of our sponsoring commitments is on the thematic areas of sports, culture and competence. In these areas, we support various projects and organisations. For example, as part of a long-standing partnership, we provide backing to the junior talent of FC Vaduz. As a partner to the Liechtenstein Olympic Committee, we are the main sponsor of the “Nacht des Sports” (Night of Sports), at which the “LLB Sport Award” is also presented. And we are a presenting partner at the “Olympic Day”, a sporting event held annually for all fourth- and fifth-grade school classes in Liechtenstein. To emphasise our strong links to the local economy, we present the “LLB SME Award” in cooperation with the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce. This award is normally presented every two years and supports small and medium-sized enterprises. These events could either not take place or took place in a different format in the reporting year because of the coronavirus pandemic. We will, however, continue to be there as a partner in future. The Business Day for Women in Vaduz, by contrast, went ahead as planned, with the “LLB Business Day Award” in the category of “Lifetime Achievement” being presented.

Bank Linth also supports a range of organisations, with a similar focus on the three thematic areas of sports, culture and competence. Besides acting already as sponsor to the Kulturtreff Rotfarb (a cultural centre) in Uznach, Knie’s Kinderzoo in Rapperswil-Jona and the Flumserberg mountain lifts, it entered into a new agreement in 2021 with the Unihockey Club HC Rychenberg in Winterthur.

LLB Österreich makes donations to numerous organisations engaged in the areas of art, culture and community service. It is also a member of various friends or supporters associations, including those of the Burgtheater, the Leopold Museum and the Albertina. In 2021, the bank once again supported and targeted donations at local Austrian institutions (including the Vienna Boys’ Choir) and traditional companies.

The charitable nature of sponsoring undertaken by the LLB Group is placed to the fore. The projects and institutions supported are independent in terms of content and organisation. In 2021, LLB made awards worth CHF 335’000 (2020: CHF 385’000) in Liechtenstein, and Bank Linth awards worth around CHF 350’000 (2020: CHF 342’000) in Switzerland. LLB Österreich spent around EUR 110’000 (2020: EUR 100’000) on donations and membership fees in Austria.

Through our many commitments, we contribute significantly to the implementation of the sustainability strategy of the LLB Group.

The non-profit Future Foundation

The “Zukunftsstiftung der Liechtensteinischen Landesbank AG” (the Future Foundation of Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG), which was founded in 2011 as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations, supports commitment to social and ecological sustainability in everyday life. We support organisations and non-profit projects that improve living and working conditions and promote self-responsibility. We also promote projects dedicated to environmental protection. We focus on innovations in the areas of knowledge transfer as well as the integration and implementation of social entrepreneurship.

Trust, responsibility and reliability are important to the LLB Group. The company is closely connected to the people as well as the economy of Liechtenstein and our other home markets. In addition to project-specific contributions amounting to CHF 62’000, the Future Foundation contributed to society by donating a total of CHF 85’500 to 24 social organisations in 2021. The Future Foundation is a member of the network of the “Vereinigung liechtensteinischer gemeinnütziger Stiftungen” (Association of Liechtenstein Non-Profit Foundations), which aims to promote the idea of entrepreneurial philanthropy.

Projects in 2021

Through its annual donations to a set circle of social institutions in Liechtenstein, the Future Foundation helps to maintain healthy social structures in the country. Providing additional funding to individual projects helps innovative ideas in the area of social and ecological development in the LLB Group’s market regions to be realised in practice.

Over the past decade, the Future Foundation has made over 210 donations and contributions to over 60 projects, in all totalling around CHF 1.5 million. The projects receiving funding contributions are targeted and located in the market regions of LLB and Bank Linth (Liechtenstein and eastern Switzerland) as well as LLB (Österreich). In 2021, the Future Foundation supported the following projects:

• Verein Ackerschaft: With its public post-harvest campaign, the Ackerschaft association wants to put an end to vegetables being left behind in the field after conventional harvesting. Through its actions it is creating linkages between agriculture and consumers.
• Global Shapers Vaduz: Refugees who have applied for asylum in Liechtenstein are not allowed to cross the border to go on an excursion. Global Shapers Vaduz facilitates and organises a range of experience days in the Principality for asylum seekers.
• Zukunft.li Foundation: LLB has been backing this think tank, which addresses economic and socio-political topics relevant to the sustainable development of Liechtenstein and the securing of its future, for the past eight years.
• pepperMINT: The MINT Initiative Liechtenstein is a social foundation that offers children and young people the chance to experience and learn mathematics, computer science, natural science and technology in a fun way.
• Stiftung Lebenswertes Liechtenstein: The foundation’s aim is to promote the long-term healthy social, ecological and economic development of the Principality of Liechtenstein, creating a positive national and international appeal and impact.

On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the Board of Trustees of the LLB Future Foundation decided to additionally award a Future Prize every two years for an outstanding commitment to sustainability.