On 10 December 2024, the Chair of Economic Criminal Law, Compliance and Digitalization at the Liechtenstein Business Law School hosted the thematic evening “Cyber Resilience Today: The DORA Implementation Act.” The event was part of this year’s economic criminal law FFF project.

On Tuesday, 30 January 2024, the Liechtenstein government adopted the consultation report concerning the enactment of a law to implement Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 on digital operational resilience in the financial sector (the Digital Operational Resilience Implementation Act; DORA-DG) and the amendment of further legislation. DORA will apply to financial intermediaries in the EU as of 17 January 2025. In Liechtenstein, the EEA-DORA-DG was discussed in its second reading on 5 December 2024 and passed by the Parliament, with anticipated entry into force on 1 February 2025.

The Rector of the University, Dr. Christian Frommelt, welcomed the attendees and emphasized the importance of digitalization as a key focus in university research and teaching. He also reported on initial results from the second national survey on digitalization, which he presented at the 2024 Digital Day in Vaduz.

Following that, Michael Valersi, Head of the Cybersecurity Coordination Office in the Principality of Liechtenstein, introduced the work of the Coordination Office, which serves as a central contact point for all matters relating to cyber risks. He pointed out that the incident reporting form should be used by companies to report security incidents.

In the first expert lecture, Mathias Bartel, Supervisory Specialist in the Asset Management and Markets division at the Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein (FMA), gave an introduction to DORA, addressing its challenges and practical implementation in detail.

Finally, Prof. Dr. Konstantina Papathanasiou, LL.M., discussed the criminal law relevance of cyber resilience, particularly focusing on Article 9 DORA-DG, which outlines the criminal provisions. The emphasis was on explaining cybercrime, the requirements of intent and negligence, as well as the risks related to corporate liability.

The event received over 100 registrations and welcomed numerous participants from financial services companies, government authorities, and law firms in the university’s new auditorium at the Ebaholz campus. The evening concluded with a relaxed networking reception.