Josef Bergt

Practice Areas

Josef Bergt, PhD, MSc, MBA, LL.M., LL.M., is a Liechtenstein-qualified attorney-at-law and notary whose practice focuses on Liechtenstein and European corporate and commercial law, banking and financial market regulation, and the structuring and execution of transactions in regulated and technology-driven environments. Acting for multinational corporates, financial institutions, and high-growth ventures, he advises on corporate governance, shareholder matters, reorganisations, mergers and acquisitions, and financing rounds, particularly where transaction design must remain robust under supervisory expectations, licensing constraints, or compliance-driven operational realities.

A significant part of his work is devoted to the establishment and licensing of regulated financial institutions and intermediaries and to the strategic management of regulatory projects and proceedings before competent authorities, where he combines doctrinal precision with pragmatic implementation so that governance frameworks, documentation suites, and operational set-ups remain workable in production while meeting audit and supervisory scrutiny. In the crypto-asset and fintech space, he advises CASPs, exchanges, brokers, and token platforms on MiCAR authorisations, MiCAR, MiFID and PSD perimeter mapping, and EU/EEA market access strategies, thereby supporting clients who require an integrated approach spanning corporate structuring, regulatory readiness, and commercial execution.

Josef Bergt is registered in the EU/EFTA list of lawyers in Switzerland and works regularly on cross-border mandates involving Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, and the EU/EEA, and he contributes to academic and professional discourse as a lecturer and author. Market recognition includes a Band 1 ranking in Liechtenstein FinTech Legal by Chambers, with respondents emphasising his commercial approach, speed, and capacity to manage complex matters.

Career

2025–present: Registered in the EU/EFTA list of lawyers, Bar Association of the Canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland).

2024–present: Liechtenstein Notary.

2022–present: Founder and Managing Partner, Law Firm Bergt & Partners Ltd. (Bergt Law), Vaduz.

2021–2022: Founder and Name Partner, Bergt | Rechtsanwaltskanzlei Bergt (predecessor practice).

2021–present: Executive Board Member, GST Network AG | GST Network Ltd.

2018–2020: Senior Associate (trainee lawyer; substitution-authorised), NÄGELE Attorneys at Law LLC, Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

2018–2020: Data Protection Officer, NÄGELE Attorneys at Law LLC, Vaduz.

2017: Associate (trainee lawyer; substitution-authorised), Schwärzler Attorneys at Law, Schaan, Liechtenstein.

2016: Judicial clerkships (Princely Court, Vaduz, Liechtenstein; District Court Telfs, Austria).

2012: Legal internship, Law firm Dr. Peter Bergt, Telfs (Austria).

Professional Memberships

IBA - International Bar Association

AIJA - International Association of Young Lawyers

Liechtenstein Bar Association

Liechtenstein Chamber of Notaries

Liechtenstein Investment Fund Association (Liechtensteinischer Anlagefondsverband, LAFV)

Association of Independent Asset Managers in Liechtenstein (Verein unabhängiger Vermögensverwalter in Liechtenstein, VuVL)

Swiss Bar Association

Bar Association of the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Publications

Stern, T., & Bergt, J. (2025). Liechtenstein’s FinTech at the frontier: How Liechtenstein’s token-centric private law meets EU market rules for payments, asset-referenced tokens, and platform economies offering proportionate set-ups and a gateway to the EU single market. International Fintech Review 2025/26. Beaumont Capital Markets.

Bergt, J., & Stern, T. (2025). Liechtenstein. In L. Corte & D. Klimentchenko (Eds.), Global Legal Insights – Mergers & Acquisitions 2025 (14th ed., pp. 99–108). Global Legal Group Ltd.

Bergt, J., & Graber, N. (2025). Introduction to Liechtenstein due diligence law. Zurich: Schulthess Publishing House.

Bergt, J. (2024). National Report on Liechtenstein. doi: 10.2873/3934539. EURICSE (2024). Synthesis report on Council Regulation No. 1435.2003 - Statute for a European Cooperative Society

Bergt, J. (2024). Decentralized Finance (DeFi): An interdisciplinary overview. Zeitschrift für das Recht der digitalen Wirtschaft (ZdiW), 4(1), 30-41.

Bergt, J. (2023). Decentralized Finance Unmasked: Behavioral Finance and Public Policy Insights on Financial Market Regulation. Baden-Baden: Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748943013

Bergt, J. (2020). Liability of the executive and supervisory bodies in the Liechtenstein public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft): With consideration of Swiss and Austrian law. Schulthess Publishing House.

Bergt, J. (2020). Tokens as book-entry (dematerialized) securities, token offerings, and decentralized trading venues: A securities private-law and regulatory analysis from a Liechtenstein perspective, with particular regard to relevant EU legal acts (2nd rev. ed.). Books on Demand.

Personal

Dr. Josef Bergt is Managing Partner at Bergt Law (Vaduz) and advises domestic and international clients on Liechtenstein and EEA-facing corporate/commercial matters, with a distinct focus on regulated industries and cross-border structuring where corporate execution, governance, and regulatory constraints must be designed coherently from the outset. He is admitted to the Liechtenstein Bar, acts as a Liechtenstein notary, and is registered in the EU/EFTA list of lawyers of the Bar Association of the Canton of St. Gallen, enabling integrated Liechtenstein–Switzerland–EEA workflows in transactions and regulatory-driven corporate mandates.

Languages Spoken

German

English

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Liechtenstein

Switzerland

Austria

EU/EEA

Clients

Clients include multinational corporations, financial institutions and financial intermediaries, founders and growth-stage companies, and technology-driven businesses requiring corporate/commercial advice that remains aligned with licensing, governance, compliance, and cross-border operational realities.

Work Highlights

Advised a major global crypto-asset trading platform on structuring and sequencing its European market entry from a Liechtenstein base, including the corporate and regulatory workstreams required for scalable rollout.

Represented a client in a high-stakes cross-border asset-freeze and AML-adjacent matter involving significant sums and multiple jurisdictions, coordinating corporate and procedural strategy alongside regulatory considerations.

Supported financial intermediaries and FinTech businesses in Liechtenstein regulatory and registration proceedings involving the Financial Market Authority, including the corporate implementation of governance and control requirements.

Assisted blockchain and token-related businesses with corporate mandates linked to the compliant use of tokens and related operational models.

Prepared and implemented internal control systems, due diligence concepts, and governance/risk frameworks for regulated or regulation-adjacent operating models.

Represented an international businessman in a high-profile money laundering matter involving approximately USD 700 million in frozen assets across multiple jurisdictions.

Assisted on securities and capital-markets work involving prospectus preparation/approval and EU/EEA notification (passporting) considerations, where corporate structuring and disclosure design needed to remain consistent.

Advised on payment-services and merchant-acquiring/payment-processing onboarding, aligning contractual structures and operational set-up with applicable regulatory expectations.

Delivered cross-border corporate/commercial support to clients in financial-services and technology contexts, reflecting the firm’s recognised strength in handling multi-jurisdictional coordination.

Industry Sector Expertise

Financial services and regulated intermediaries (formation, registration, licensing pathways, supervisory proceedings).

FinTech and blockchain/tokenisation mandates (including corporate implementation of compliant operating models).

Payments and payment-related onboarding workstreams (merchant acquirers, payment processors).

Securities and capital markets (prospectus preparation/approval; EU/EEA notification/passporting interface).

Governance, compliance, and risk management design (ICS and due diligence concepts).

Experience

Josef Bergt’s practice combines corporate/commercial execution (including incorporations, governance architecture, financings, and M&A) with the regulatory and supervisory interfaces that frequently determine feasibility and time-to-market for clients in financial-services and technology-driven sectors. His work regularly encompasses proceedings and interactions with the competent authorities and the corporate implementation of compliance and control requirements in regulated operating models.

Additional training: “Computer Science for Lawyers” (Harvard University); Cambridge International Legal English Certificate (C1).

Education

Awards