"The Liechtenstein financial centre has already undertaken considerable reform efforts in recent years, but more reforms will be necessary, not only to ensure the competitiveness of the financial centre for the future, but also to enhance it," the Hereditary Prince told Parliament.

"Other financial centres have caught up by creating new, attractive business environments, while the international pressure has risen on locations offering a high level of protection of privacy," he observed.

In the light of the current discussion on tax evasion and tax investigations in Germany, Prince Alois argued that the need of citizens for protection of privacy must be taken into account. However, he stressed that this should not be understood narrowly in terms of strong bank secrecy in tax matters, but rather broadly in terms of a culture of privacy.

"Particularly at a time when other states are increasingly invading the privacy of their own citizens – and are even paying millions for stolen data – the need of citizens for a stronger protection of their privacy is great," the Prince remarked.

He contended that privacy should not be interfered with without judicial review, and that the procedures for carrying out the necessary reviews, especially in mutual legal assistance proceedings, should be accelerated.

Prince Alois went on to tell Parliament about the proposed introduction of an independent national audit office in Liechtenstein.

He suggested that such an audit office would be important because modern industrial countries like Liechtenstein have taken on a multitude of tasks over the past few decades, and also because national administrations have become extremely complex organizations, comparable with large international corporations.