Bank Frick is to cooperate in future with the University of Liechtenstein in the fields of blockchain and fintech.

The University of Liechtenstein will receive substantial financial resources from Bank Frick during a planned five-year cooperation. Partnership-based research projects, projects with students and a Certificate programme are the main aims of the collaboration. The programme will be offered from the beginning of 2019 for the first time.

Edi Wögerer, CEO of Bank Frick, and Dr Volker M. Rheinberger, President of the University Council of the University of Liechtenstein, seal the cooperation in the area of blockchain in finance | image via frick.ly/pressphotos

Social responsibility

Bank Frick is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018. To mark this event and as part of its social responsibility, the Bank has chosen the University of Liechtenstein as its cooperation partner to provide Liechtenstein with a forward-looking gift. This includes the joint development of Liechtenstein as a location for blockchain technology and fintechs (companies that offer specialist financial services using modern technology).

The University of Liechtenstein and Bank Frick are also including students into this and encouraging knowledge transfer between university and practice. With these considerations in mind, a competence centre is being established for blockchain and fintech at the University of Liechtenstein’s Institute for Finance.

Certificate programme “Blockchain in finance and fintech”

Based on the university’s expertise in research, teaching and knowledge transfer regarding blockchain and fintech and with the help of Bank Frick’s practical experience, the Institute for Finance has developed a Certificate programme for practitioners in the financial sector run by project and study head Assistant Professor Dr Martin Angerer. The aim is to pass on the latest knowledge and expertise on dealing with technologies in the financial sector that are both disruptive yet potentially promising.

Bank Frick is sponsoring the development and implementation of the Certificate programme by providing a substantial sum over the next five years. During the period of cooperation, the Bank’s experts will also be in regular contact with the university to address technical questions.

University expertise

In signing the cooperation agreement, Edi Wögerer, CEO of Bank Frick, was confident about the University of Liechtenstein’s expertise, its academic excellence and high practical relevance of the new programme:

“The university is providing its blockchain expertise both in the financial and legal domain. Students will, therefore, benefit from a research-based approach and learn how the future of our sector is being shaped through innovation.”

For Dr Volker M. Rheinberger, President of the University Council, who thanked Bank Frick for the major financial support, the Bank’s commitment is also a sign of confidence in the University of Liechtenstein and Liechtenstein as a business location:

“It shows that it was right to focus on these new subjects in the financial sector and that it is very promising.”

The “Blockchain in finance and fintech” programme begins in February 2019 at the University of Liechtenstein. More information can be found at www.uni.li/blockchain-fintech.