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.
