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.

In the coming week, Madrid will host the joint conference of the EU regulatory and supervisory authorities ESAs Consumer Protection Day which aims to strengthen cooperation and ensure cross-sectoral coherence between the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). This important conference will feature three panels covering cross-selling, the regulation of crypto assets in the EU, and greenwashing.

Since last week, the shareholders of the former Authorized Investment Company M1 have the option to repurchase the shares at a price of at least €2.00 per share, as secured by the VZMD, i.e at €1.10 € or 122% more than the shareholders were offered by the company when they had withdrawn the shares from the stock exchange 2 years ago, and €1.75 more – or rather 700% more – than the share price on the SI ENTER market of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange. The remaining 740 minority shareholders of the company are thus entitled to over €800,000.00 of the purchase value – which is over €440,000.00 more than they would have received if they had not agreed the withdrawal from the stock exchange. The biggest among the minority shareholders is the Slovenian State Capital Corporation “Kapitalska družba, d.d. (KAD)”, which acquired 6.81% of all M1 shares by terminating the registry accounts at the Slovenian Central Securities Clearing Corporation (KDD) of 11,300 certificate shareholders who, in this case alone, had lost at least €535,706.00 or gave them away to the state-owned KAD. The VZMD has been very vocal regarding these enormous damages suffered by the most vulnerable minority shareholders in the past several years and on all levels, as well as provided alternative legislative proposals which, however, were dismissed by the Slovenian decision-makers. In turn, the VZMD established the 'Share SUPPORT' program (VIDEO: https://youtu.be/qnNbmMa4VRQ), seven years ago which helped to at least somewhat mitigate the effects of terminating the registry accounts and of the unbridled appetite of the financial industry, as well as of the operators and trustees of the state holdings (VIDEO: https://youtu.be/PpAzfPxYiEg).

Following the invitation by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia, the VZMD was happy to respond by submitting comments and suggestions to the proposed package of measures for the 'Retail Investment Strategy (RIS)' published by the European Commission at the end of May. The VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, submitted a cover letter in which he expressed his confidence that it is in the common interest for all 'that the package of measures encourages the Slovenian households and society in general to unleash its enormous investment potential to further kick-start the economy, strengthen the capital market, and provide financial security as well as stability that will be sustainable in the long run'. Meanwhile, the associates of the VZMD have been dealing with the RIS and the package of measures for a while now, and on different levels (domestic, European, and broader international levels), which is why the Association was able to submit thoroughly consolidated comments that have been aligned with the sister European associations of investors and the parent European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE).

On October 13, the Vienna Stock Exchange will play host to the international investor conference 'Upholding Sustainable & Accessible Capital Markets for European Investors', organized by the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) and the Austrian Investor Association (IVA). The conference will feature numerous distinguished speakers and address current affairs, including the development of the capital market in Central and Eastern Europe, the EU strategy for retail investors, the reporting standards on sustainable development, pensions, as well as collective redress in relation to the environmental and social sustainable governance (ESG).

Last Friday in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, saw the end of the three-day Financial Forum of one of the most important European think tanks - EUROFI - which is focused on financial services and primarily strives to strengthen and integrate European financial markets and their related policies. At the invitation of the organizers, the event was traditionally attended by the VZMD President Mr. Kristjan Verbič, who in addition to the lively forum also attended numerous accompanying events, such as gala banquet, where the guests were addressed by Pablo Hernandez de Cos, the Governor of the Bank of Spain and Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In parallel with the events, Mr. Verbič participated in many bilateral meetings, among others with Guillaume Prache, the Chairman of the FAIDER, the French federation of investor and life insurance policyholder associations, and Senior Advisor of BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users. On Wednesday, the latter held one of the most resounding keynote speeches - not only about the EU strategy for individual investors, but also about the actual establishment of the capital markets union. A recording of the entire speech: https://youtu.be/NtNa3B9AFEg.