Otmar Hasler (; born 28 September 1953) is a former politician from

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

who served as

Prime Minister of Liechtenstein The head of government of Liechtenstein (), known informally as the prime minister, is the chief executive of the Government of Liechtenstein and chairs the cabinet of Liechtenstein. They are appointed by the sovereign prince of Liechtenstein ...

from 2001 to 2009. He was previously the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein in 1995 and served in the

Landtag of Liechtenstein The Landtag of the Principality of Liechtenstein () is the unicameral parliament of Liechtenstein. Qualifications Citizens who have attained the age of 18, have permanent residency in the country and have lived in the country for at least on ...

from 1989 to 2001.

Early life and career

Hasler attended school in

Eschen Eschen (; High Alemannic: ''Escha'') is a municipality in the north of Liechtenstein. It covers an area of , and is one of the five communes in the Unterland electoral district. As of 2024, it has a population of 4,629 inhabitants. Etymolog ...

from 1966 to 1969 and then teacher training college in

Rickenbach, Schwyz Rickenbach is a village in the Schwyz, municipality of Schwyz, itself in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. It lies some to the east of the town centre of Schwyz. The Rotenfluebahn links Rickenbach with the summit of the Rotenfluh mountain, whi ...

from 1969 to 1974. He was educated in secondary school teaching from 1975 to 1979 at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

and

University of Burgundy The University of Burgundy Europe (, UBE; formerly known as University of Dijon) is a public university located in Dijon, France. The University of Burgundy Europe is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the eastern part of Dijon cal ...

. He worked as a teacher at the secondary school in Eschen from 1979 to 2001. Hasler was elected to the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

as a member of the

Progressive Citizens' Party The Progressive Citizens' Party in Liechtenstein (, FBP) is a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Liechtenstein, political party in Liechtenstein. The FBP is one of the two major party, major List of political parties in Liech ...

, where he served until 2001. He was President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from January to December 1995. In addition, he was president of the Progressive Citizens' Party from 1993 to 1995.

Prime Minister of Liechtenstein

Hasler was

from 5 April 2001 to 25 May 2009. His first term oversaw a FBP majority government, whereas in his second term he led a new coalition government with the Patriotic Union. His government oversaw the ending of the

1999–2001 Liechtenstein financial crisis The 1999–2001 Liechtenstein financial crisis was instigated by the German Federal Intelligence Service in 1999 by accusing various banks, politicians and judges within Liechtenstein of cooperating with organized crime to promote money laundering. ...

, with Liechtenstein being removed from the

Financial Action Task Force The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and to ma ...

on 23 June 2001. In 2003, a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

to adopt

Hans-Adam II Hans-Adam II (Johannes Adam Ferdinand Alois Josef Maria Marco d'Aviano Pius; born 14 February 1945) is the Prince of Liechtenstein, reigning since 1989. He is the son of Prince Franz Joseph II and his wife, Countess Georgina von Wilczek. He al ...

's revision of the

constitution of Liechtenstein The Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein () was promulgated on 5 October 1921, replacing the 1862 constitution. It was granted by Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, and established the rule of partial parliamentary democracy m ...

to expand his powers passed. The prince had threatened to abdicate and leave the country if the referendum did not result in his favour. In the run-up to the referendum, Hasler supported the proposed changes.

2008 tax affair

During Hasler's term, the 2008 Liechtenstein tax affair took place, where millions of

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

belonging to hundreds of citizens living in Germany were channeled into the LGT Bank and other banks in Liechtenstein, taking advantage of Liechtenstein-based

trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

to evade paying taxes in Germany. The affair overshadowed the previously-planned visit of Hasler to Berlin on 19 February 2008 to meet with the minister of finance,

Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

, and the chancellor,

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

. Merkel asked for help in the investigation and cooperation in prevention of tax evasion, pointing out that Liechtenstein provided the US

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

with some data but not the German Ministry of Finances. The newspaper ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'' described the event as a "government crisis". As a result of the affair, Hasler's government entered negotiations with a number of countries to discuss tax avoidance issues. It reached an agreement with the United Kingdom in 2009 that will allow the about 5,000 British customers of Liechtenstein's banks that hold for them about £2-3 billion in secret accounts to come clear with British tax authorities under terms of a significantly reduced penalty. The agreement opened up Liechtenstein's banks to greater transparency, but remains controversial in Liechtenstein; some banks feared that clients would move their money elsewhere. Hasler sought re-election for a third term in the 2009 Liechtenstein general election. However, the election resulted in a victory for the Patriotic Union and Hasler resigned as prime minister on 8 February 2009, and was succeeded by

Klaus Tschütscher Klaus Tschütscher (; born 8 July 1967) is a politician from Liechtenstein who served as the Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 2009 to 2013. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 2005 to 2009, under the government ...

on 25 March.

Later life

Hasler currently serves as a member of the board at the Kaiser Partner Privatbank in

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

. In 2023, Hasler was a co-founder of the ''Liacht'' foundation, designed to financially support charitable organisations. He has been a board member of the organisation since.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasler, Otmar Heads of government of Liechtenstein 1953 births Living people Finance ministers of Liechtenstein Presidents of the Landtag of Liechtenstein Progressive Citizens' Party members of the Landtag of Liechtenstein University of Fribourg alumni People from Gamprin Members of the Landtag of Liechtenstein (1989–1993) Members of the Landtag of Liechtenstein (1993–1997) Members of the Landtag of Liechtenstein (1997–2001) Vice presidents of the Landtag of Liechtenstein Otmar Hasler Presidents of the Progressive Citizens' Party 21st-century heads of government of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein educators

Early life and career

Prime Minister of Liechtenstein

2008 tax affair

Later life

See also

References