Right after VZMD sent the compromise amendment and appeal to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on September 4 to alleviate the catastrophic impact of the proposed amending act of the Book Entry Securities Act (ZNVP-1) and following numerous conversations with the representatives of the Parliamentary groups, it was on September 15 that the Parliamentary groups of the ruling coalition tabled an amendment, which draws on and also includes the compromise proposals by VZMD to a large extent. In addition to the delay of the abolishment of registry accounts for natural persons until 2017 and mandatory direct reporting by the Central Securities Clearing Corporation (KDD), the new coalition's proposal would entitle at least approx. 100,000 shareholders - who hold shares worth up to EUR 100 on their registry accounts at KDD - to court fee exemption, in the event that they do not transfer their shares to trading accounts at brokerage firms or banks which would consequently lead to transfer to the court deposit after January 1, 2017.

Thus, the VZMD president, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, sent to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia yesterday VZMD's opinion on the coalition's amendment regarding Article 48 of ZNVP-1 in which he welcomes the significant progress in addressing the issue of registry account abolishment, which reflects a certain degree of understanding for upholding minority shareholders in the Republic of Slovenia. On this occasion too, Mr. Verbič points out that »yet another step in the right direction unfortunately does not imply that the goal of the appropriate (related) solution for the status of minority shareholders has been reached - particularly of those who are keen on being part of Slovenian joint-stock companies, and in this manner maintain and increase effectiveness of tied up resources, save for their old age, healthcare services, education of their offspring, etc.« In this context, the VZMD President appeals to the deputies to make slight additional efforts when formulating the definitive text of Article 48 of the ZNVP-1 proposal as »it would be truly a pity, after all already invested efforts and adjustments, to be so near, yet so far from the solution which could be classified as acceptable and optimal in the usual context of the claimed urgency.«

However, the first, (still) proposed amending act of ZNVP-1, bears severe consequences for the capital market, particularly for over 260,000 Slovenian minority shareholders (natural persons), who might be the next year relentlessly deleted from the register of shareholders, that is, they might lose their shares in the face of abolishment of (their) registry accounts at the KDD, or »punished«with the court fees for the automatic court deposits of their shares. That is why VZMD has insisted on scathing criticism of such amending act of ZNVP-1, which was anew pointed out by the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, also in the meeting of the Finance and Monetary Policy Council of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on Wednesday, September 2. (RECORDING of the meeting – VZMD caveats and proposals from 51:40 minute onwards)

Note that VZMD sent an urgency, to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia in February, with which they reiterated that Ministry, among other things, was proposing abolishment of registry accounts at KDD, obscuring ownership structures, lowering the level of legal security, making it more difficult to attend meetings, additional financial and social burdens, explicitly reducing the number of minority shareholders and the proportion of local ownership in Slovenian companies etc.

Even beforehand, VZMD had  frequently voiced against the proposed abolishment of the registry accounts (inter alia also using the remarks and proposals regarding the ZNVP-1 on October 28, 2014, November 26, 2014 and February 5,. 2015), in addition VZMD has since October 2014 been actively engaged in harmonizing the text of the Proposed directive of the European Parliament and Council of the EU regarding changes to the 2007/36/ES directive regarding encouraging the long-term shareholder engagement and 2013/34/EU directive regarding specific elements of the declaration about corporate governance.. Regarding the Proposed directive directly related to the Proposed amending act of ZNVP, VZMD sent its remarks and proposals as early as on October 2014 - in line with the Better Finance proposals ( European Federation of Financial Services, where Mr. Verbič is a member of the  Executive Board) - also directly to the Ministry for Economic Development and Technology.