EUROSHAREHOLDERS - Slovenia voted as Member of the Board; Russia and EFES Accepted as Associate Members; General Secretary, President, and Vice-Presidents Elected to Another Term; Next Assembly to Be Held in Slovenia

The Hague, October 28, 2011

The General Assembly of the Organization of European Shareholders' Associations (Euroshareholders), which took place on Friday, October 28, 2011 in The Hague, was for Slovenia and the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association very fruitful.  It was confirmed that next year's General Assembly will be hosted by the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association in Slovenia.  Also, the President of the VZMD, Kristjan Verbič, M.Sc., was unanimously nominated as a Member of the Executive Board, the highest functioning body of this prestigious international organization, which was established in 1992 and unites 31 national associations of shareholders and investors.    

In addition to Mr. Verbič's election to the Board, others were also selected: Euroshareholders' President, Jella Benner-Heinacher (DSW, Germany), Bolli Hedinsson (ISA, Iceland), Paul Huybrechts (VFB, Belgium), Euroshareholders' Vice-President Günther Mårder (Aktiespararna, Sweden), Aldo Sicurani (FFCI, France), Euroshareholders' Vice-President Jan Maarten Slagter (VEB, the Netherlands) and Henning Wegener (AEMEC, Spain).  On the picture: Henning Wegener, Kristjan Verbič, Jella Benner-Heinacher, Guillaume Prache in Sarah Kavšek (left to right).

The current Secretary General of Euroshareholders', Mr. Guillaume Prache, was also re-elected to another term.  In addition to being the Secretary General, Mr. Prache is also the Managing Director of the European Federation of Investors (EuroInvestors), the First Chairman of the European Securities and Markets Stakeholders Group (SMSG), which is a constituent of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) - an independent EU Authority, which on January 1, 2011, replaced the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), that contributes to safeguarding the stability of the European Union's financial system by ensuring the integrity, transparency, efficiency and orderly functioning of securities markets, as well as enhancing investor protection, and a great friend of VZMD and Slovenia (view the Video Commentary, below).

At this Assembly, the Union of Borrowers and Investors of Russia (UBIR), represented by Alexej Smirnov, Deputy Chairman of the Council on Foreign Affairs, and the European Federation of Employee Share Ownership (EFES) became associate members.  Other activities and problematics, which are facing the organization, were presented by Steven Maijoor, the ESMA Chair, Béatrice Richez-Baum, Secretary General of ECODA (European Confederation of Directors' Associations) and Robin Edme, long-time Director of EUROSIF, who presented the topic on socially responsible investment (SRI) for individual investors.

The Euroshareholders' Assembly also discussed the European Commission's proposal for the reform of the financial markets and the revision of the Directives of the market and financial instruments - MiFID.  The in-depth thematic of this issue was publicized in the Press Release (click on the picture, left), in which Euroshareholders along with EFI - EuroInvestors request that the capital markets be given back to the real economy users - non-financial investors and issuers.

The World Federation of Investors' Corporation (WFIC) General Meeting in Warsaw - Next Year the WFIC GM Will Be in Ljubljana; The Newly Established Affiliate of investo.si - Invest to Slovenia, investo.me - Invest to Montenegro, Was Elected as a New Association Member

To view the VIDEO COMMENTARY, please click on the following picture:

October 7, 2011, the following day after the outstandingly successful "Slovenian Day at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)" (VIDEO and PRESS RELEASE below), was marked by the Annual General Meeting of the WFIC, the prominent international organization with a fifty-year tradition and with over 38 member, at the Warsaw Stock Exchange in Poland.  The PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) joined this prestigious organization in 2007 at the meeting in Brussels and became a full-fledged member in 2008 at the meeting in Sao Paolo.

This GM was especially relevant for the VZMD, since it was reaffirmed the previous decision of the GM and the Board of Executives that the next Annual GM - along with an investors' fair - will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia (see the accompanying VIDEO from 2008).  The President and the Secretary General of the VZMD were extremely pleased and invited all participating representatives to bring national companies, funds, investors, and other economically pertinent constituents to the investors' fair.  In addition, through the zealous active participation of the VZMD through the years, invest.si's newly-founded affiliate, investo.me - Invest to Montenegro, was nominated as an Associate Member of the WFIC.  Other initiated members also include: The Society for Consumers' and Investors' Protection (India), International Investors Association of Georgia (Georgia), The Union of Borrowers and Investors of Russia (Russia), Federation ACTIF, Saint Laurent (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Investors Association of Lithuania (Lithuania) in Investors Association of the Philippines (Philippines).

"Slovenian Day at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)" Exceptional Interest of Funds, Investors, and the Financial Media for Slovenian Companies and Its Investment Environment - The Introduction of investo.si - Invest to Slovenia's Newly Founded Affiliate, investo.me - Invest to Montenegro

To view the VIDEO COMMENTARY, please click on the following picture:

Last week, the President and the Secretary General of the VZMD - PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association returned from their work-related trip in Warsaw, where they actively participated at the Annual General Meeting of the WFIC - World Federation of Investors Corporation and the day before, October 6, 2011, at the first "Slovenian Day at the WSE," which was co-organized by the WSE, the SII - Polish Individual Investors' Association, the VZMD and its independent investo.si - Invest to Slovenia program, which in the last year partook at numerous events throughout Europe and internationally and represented Slovenian companies and the investment potentials of Slovenia and the South-eastern region of Europe (see the brochure at the bottom of this message).

Besides the representatives of the WSE, many investors, funds, and the financial media were also present, along with the honorary guests, the representative of the Croatian Embassy in Poland, the Montenegrin Ambassador in Poland, and the Slovenian Ambassador in Poland, who impressed the audience with his speech.  Beside the two Slovenian companies that actively participated at the event and presented their companies to the audience, Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor, d.d., which is already listed on the WSE, and the Triglav Insurance Group, twelve other companies were also presented with their promotional and informative materials.  In accordance with the first-ever "Slovenian Day at the WSE," the newly established affiliate, investo.me - Invest to Montenegro, of the investo.si - Invest to Slovenia program was introduced as a special guest and the next day, at the WFIC Annual General Meeting, investo.me was also adopted as a member of this honored federation.

In the opinion of many present at the event, the investment opportunities and potential of the Republic of Slovenia and the surrounding region was very well presented (see the Program of the event to the left).  In fact, it was happily concluded that it was not a mode of propaganda but, quite the opposite, a way to bring to light the facts and advantages of Slovenia and show evidence of the interest and lucrative reasons for being listed on the WSE, the largest capital market in Central Europe (larger than the Vienna Stock Exchange or the Budapest Stock Exchange), where over 400 different companies from many different sectors are listed, including the Slovenian Nova KBM.  In addition, the WSE has high liquidity for securities and is extremely compatible for companies searching for fresh capital, since it has many individual and large financial investors, while having a highly competitive capital market. 

EUROINVESTORS – Failure of the European Commission to Bind to Their Reform Commitments for the Funding of Individual Investors' Organizations

"...This very severe imbalance between the representation of financial services users' interests and that of providers has even deepened since the 2008 financial crisis. Nevertheless, the European Commission has not honored its public commitment at all. No funding tender for retail investors' organizations has been created so far. In addition, EC refused to grant even one euro to the European retail investors' organization (The European Federation of Investors – EuroInvestors, created in September 2009 on the initiative of Euroshareholders and of FAIDER ), through the already existing yearly EC tender directed to the European consumer organizations. It is important to underline that European Authorities categorize us as “consumer” organizations and that we were advised by EC officials to apply for that specific tender. The EC turned down our 2009 application, and clearly told us that we would never be successful for this yearly tender..."