Prior to today’s meeting of the European ministers of economy and finance (ECOFIN) - one of the most important European Think Tanks (EUROFI) - that always takes place in the presiding country of the Council of the EU began yesterday in Ghent, Belgium. The 900 invited participants were also joined by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, who arrived in Belgium as early as Monday, and used this time for several bilateral talks, including with the honorary President and former Secretary General of the World Federation of Investors (WFI), Mr. Jean-Pierre Paelinck, as well as with the Managing Director of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE), Aleksandra Mączyńska.

Following the recent end of the January tour of the VZMD's international business-investor programs: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors` Network - investo.international, with the visits of Miami, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos, on Monday, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, will visit Belgium, which is currently holding the Presidency of the EU Council. In this intensive week he will attend the financial forum EUROFI, the meeting of the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG), which he is a member of, and numerous other meetings. After that he will head to Sofia to join the economic delegation, which will accompany the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Nataša Pirc Musar, on the occasion of her official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria.

The end of last week, Texas, USA, saw the end of the official program of the economic delegation "Texas feels Slovenia" visit to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos, where the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, also actively participated. The visit was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce – AmCham Slovenia and SPIRIT Slovenia. Near the capital city of Austin, the members of delegation visited the electric vehicle factory TESLA Giga Factory, the largest factory in the world by floor area, where the futuristic vehicle Cybertruck is made. Before that, they visited the headquarters of the global technology company DELL, where they were received by John L. Howard Jr., the Director of Government Affairs and former counselor to the US President George Bush Jr. At the umbrella Texas chamber of commerce (TAB) another business forum "Texas Feels Slovenia" took place. The Slovenian delegation was received by its President Glenn Hamer, the President of the European-American Chamber of Commerce, Erin McKelveym, and the CEO of Tech Ranch, Kevin Koym.

Yesterday, Dallas, Texas, saw the beginning of the official part of the week-long visit by the Slovene economic delegation, which was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Slovenia) and SPIRIT Slovenia under the title "Texas feels Slovenia". On Sunday, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, who is also a member of the delegation, had already attended an informal meeting of the members of the delegation with His Excellency Iztok Mirošič, the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States of America in Washington, Ajša Vodnik, the CEO of AmCham Slovenia and the President of AmCham Europe, Sandra Pratt Wilkens, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovenia in Houston, and many others. Delegation consists of 24 members: the representatives of various institutions as well as the representatives of eight innovative Slovene companies.

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The General Assembly and meeting of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) took place this week in Brussels. Both meetings – which followed the recent meeting and the International Investor Conference in Vienna (VIDEO: https://youtu.be/RyyZho0QVlM) – were actively attended also by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, as a member of the Executive Board.

The COP28 Climate Change Conference organized by the UNITED NATIONS started yesterday in Dubai. This main global conference is attended by prominent representatives of the countries and organizations from around the world. The main focus of this year's conference is the progress of the countries towards achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which was also attended by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič. The green transition has significant financial implications, which is why the Financial Services User Group (FSUG) at the European Commission, a member of which is also Mr. Verbič, published a statement on key issues to be addressed by the COP28. The statement issued yesterday was discussed by the FSUG at the end of last week and after their meeting in Brussels, where they supported the efforts to limit the global warming, and highlighted that the negotiations should improve upon the global progress and encourage investments into green technologies.

Yesterday, Brussels played host to the international conference of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) entitled 'Back to the Future - the promises and perils of digital finance'; the conference was also attended by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, as the member of the Financial Services User Group at the EUROPEAN COMMISSION (FSUG).

It has been exactly 10 years since the VZMD has directly notified all the bond owners of the Slovenian banks and invited them to participate in the specific measures that had been drawn up in order to maintain their investments – less than a month later, the first initiatives for a constitutional review of the controversial amendment of the Banking Act (ZBan-1L) were lodged with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia (VIDEO: https://youtu.be/1qMbXiF1SK0). In 2013, right before the holiday season, the Constitutional Court acknowledged the legitimate interest of the first 290 initiators under the auspices of the VZMD, accepted the initiative for adjudication as an »ABSOLUTELY PRIORITY CASE«, and at the same time unfortunately rejected the proposal for the suspension of the implementation of what was evidently unconstitutional law. Thus, the wipe-out of the shares and subordinated bonds begun the very same day. 10 years later – despite all the available remedies, numerous proceedings and activities to eliminate the outrageous injustices – over 110,000 expropriated investors are still waiting for the justice to be done or, at the very least, to be granted the constitutionally guaranteed right to remedy.

A three-day meeting of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) and the World Federation of Investors (WFI) took place in mid October in Vienna, featuring annual sessions of the bodies of both influential associations. One of the highlights was undoubtedly the International Investor Conference, organized at the Vienna Stock Exchange by the Austrian Investor Association (IVA) and BETTER FINANCE, titled "Upholding Sustainable & Accessible Capital Markets for European Investors".

The meetings of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) and the World Federation of Investors (WFI) were held last week in Vienna. As a member of the Executive boards of both BETTER FINANCE and the WFI, the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, took an active part in the events after having arrived to Vienna from Madrid immediately after the conclusion of the joint conference of the European regulatory and supervisory authorities - ESAs Consumer Protection Day.

At the end of July, VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, attended the WORLD LAW CONGRESS that took place at the headquarters of the UNITED NATIONS in New York as the only speaker from Slovenia. The visit was part of the greater world tour of the VZMD's international business-investor programs: Invest to Slovenia & International Investors` Network, during which he traveled around the globe on business for two months to visit Vietnam, Singapore, Belgium, Finland, and South Korea. VZMD.tv team prepared a VIDEO REPORT: https://youtu.be/Q50Xh8c27vk.