Through the mud with Spektral Bank

On 14 September 2019, the first Liechtenstein mud run will take place in Ruggell and Schellenberg. The run starts in Ruggell at the sports and recreational facilities in Widau and follows a course across 40 obstacles and up an elevation of 350 metres to Schellenberg and back to Ruggell. Spektral Bank is the main and title sponsor of the Spektral Bank LieMudRun and also offers its employees an accompanying sports programme they can participate in free of charge.

Through the mud with Spektral Bank

Spektral Bank is the main and title sponsor of the Spektral Bank LieMudRun, which will take place in Ruggell. From left to right: Maria Kaiser-Eberle, Mayoress of Ruggell, Sandra Wögerer and Sascha Oehri, both from the LieMudRun team, Melanie Gstöhl, CFO of Spektral Bank, Johannes Kohler and Patrick Risch, both from the LieMudRun team, and Norman Wohlwend, Mayor of Schellenberg. The photo can be downloaded from frick.ly/pressphotos.

Balzers (LI) – In September 2019, the first Liechtenstein mud run will take place in Ruggell and Schellenberg. The start and end point is at the sports and recreational facilities in Widau. The course runs across 40 obstacles and up an elevation of 350 metres to Schellenberg and then back to Ruggell. Spektral Bank is committed as the main and title sponsor of the run. “To master a mud run, it requires passion, endurance and a clear focus – all qualities we appreciate in our employees”, explains Melanie Gstöhl, CFO of Spektral Bank. In addition, the Bank also likes to forge its own path and enter into unconventional partnerships. Spektral Bank has proved this before by sponsoring the OpenHair Metal Festival. “Sponsoring this event is actually a lot closer to home for us than people might think. Some of our employees already trained to participate in a different mud run last summer. So, sponsoring the LieMudRun is perfect for us”, says Melanie Gstöhl. The sports programme will also be offered again this year at Spektral Bank. From mid-May, all employees can train free of charge with a professional coach twice a week.

Made in Liechtenstein

Spektral Bank’s collaboration with the University of Liechtenstein and acting as the main sponsor of the OpenHair Metal Festival is now followed by the LieMudRun. The Bank is impressed by the commitment and personal contribution from the association organising the run. Each of the more than 40 obstacles are being built by the association members, thus making the event 100 per cent “made in Liechtenstein”. “Our focus lies primarily on the quality of the run”, says Johannes Kohler, the President of the association. “We are actively involved in the mud run scene ourselves, and therefore know what makes a really good run event”, explains Kohler. Apart from a comprehensive environmental concept, attention has been paid in particular to designing the course in order to ensure that the run offers something for everyone. There are three distances of between 8 and 20 kilometres, as well as the LittleMudRun for children. The mud run scene has been growing more and more in the past years, and by now current run events abroad attract several hundred people per run. Liechtenstein offers the perfect setting for a mud run. The infrastructure is in top condition – and where could be better to hold an event like this than amid the magnificent mountain scenery? “We are confident that with our run event, we will be able to put Liechtenstein on the map of the international mud run scene”, says Patrick Risch, head of the organising committee.

The Spektral Bank LieMudRun will take place on 14 September 2019 in Ruggell. Tickets are already available. Further information can be found at www.liemudrun.li.

For as long as it has existed, Spektral Bank has supported selected organisations or projects, living up to its social responsibility in the process. Since recently, the Bank has also been cooperating with the University of Liechtenstein in the areas of blockchain and fintech. Partnership-based research projects, projects with students and a Certificate programme are the main aims of the collaboration. The course started for the first time in February 2019. Further information can be found at www.uni.li.

About Spektral Bank

Spektral Bank is a family-run Liechtenstein bank with headquarters in Balzers. It was founded in 1998 by Kuno Frick Sr (1938–2017), with the majority now controlled by the Kuno Frick Family Foundation. Minority shareholder Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. (Net1), holds 35 per cent of Spektral Bank’s share capital. Net1 is a financial technology company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.

Spektral Bank focuses on providing products and services for financial intermediaries such as fiduciaries, asset managers, payment service providers and fintechs.

One of Spektral Bank’s unique selling points is its high level of expertise in the regulated blockchain banking sector. The Bank supports Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), provides custody of crypto assets and dealing services in leading cryptocurrencies for Spektral Bank clients, and makes crypto assets bankable.

Spektral Bank develops tailor-made funds for intermediaries and acts as a custodian bank.

It is the only bank in Liechtenstein with acquiring licences from Visa and MasterCard.

Spektral Bank established subsidiaries in 2019 to operate independently on the market with new services: Distributed Ventures AG, an incubator and accelerator to promote and finance fintech and blockchain start-ups, as well as The DLT Markets AG, which provides institutional investors with professional access to digital assets.

Spektral Bank employs more than 120 members of staff and operates a branch in London, UK.