On Tuesday, the presentation of the "The Adriatic Journal: Strategic Foresight 2020" issue took place in Ljubljana, and it is traditionally given by the Institute for Strategic Solutions. The event was attended by the prominent representatives of the state, institutions, the economy and civil society such as Mr. Miro Cerar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Karin Kneissl, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Blaž Brodnjak, NLB Bank Chairman of the Board, Mr. Gregor Pilgram, Generali CEE Holding Board member. As part of the VZMD's efforts and its international business-investor programs Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors' Network – invest-to.net, the event was attended by the President of the Association, Mr. Verbič, who took the opportunity to talk to many prominent guests. Among other things, a discussion was held about further collaboration in terms of activities by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Public Agency SPIRIT Slovenia - primarily in light of preparations for the Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council.

Yesterday, the Euronext Stock Exchange in Brussels hosted the Sustainable Value for Money international conference organized by the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (Better Finance) in collaboration with the CFA Institute. The important conference addresses the issues of sustainable and long-term real returns of various financial products intended for long-term and retirement savings.

Yesterday, the General meeting of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (Better Finance) took place at the CFA Institute in the Brussels downtown, followed by the meetings of the Legal Committee and the Executive Board. The events were also attended by the PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders' Association (VZMD) President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, as a member of the Better Finance's Executive Board. He pointed out, among other things, two key issues from the vantage point of investors in Slovenia, which are also being fully addressed by the European Federation of Investors. 

The 6th extraordinary session that took place on Monday saw the members of the National Council unanimously vote for the suspensive veto to the Act on Judicial Relief Granted to Former Holders of Qualified Bank Credit (ZPSVIKOB). The session at the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia was also attended by the President of the VZMD, Mr. Kristjan Verbič. Last week, immediately after ZPSVIKOB was adopted in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Verbič addressed an appeal to the National Council, urging the members of the Council to veto the act and enable the reading of their incomparably more suitable bill.

On Tuesday evening, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia has seen 34 votes against and 46 votes for in favor of adopting the Act on Judicial Relief Granted to Former Holders of Qualified Bank Credit (ZPSVIKOB) prepared by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. At the PanSlovenian Investors’ & Shareholders’ Association (VZMD), where they have been actively following the legislative procedure the entire time, providing numerous proposals, remarks, and warnings about the unsuitability of the Government’s bill, they decided to send a reasoned appeal to the members of the National Council urging them to veto the adopted act. This way, the repeated voting in the National Assembly would have to see the absolute majority of members of the parliament voting to adopt the questionable ZPSVIKOB, meaning once again at least 46 votes. At the VZMD they are of the opinion that it would be harder to achieve the majority of votes the second time around.

Lebanese capital of Beirut is hosting the meeting of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (Better Finance) and the World Federation of Investors (WFI). The high-level meetings and the high-profile international conference are taking place under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Aoun, and are organized by the distinguished law Office Boulos with the support of both international associations and Belgian Business Council in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Dublin hosted an important convention of the European Securities Exchanges (FESE) attended by over 300 important representatives of European institutions and financial industry, decision-makers and experts from 31 countries. The current expert discussion primarily addresses the role of stock exchange and capital markets, the influence of the MiFID II/MiFiR financial market reform and Brexit, the European future and strategic need for a sustainable union of capital markets.

At the organizers' invitation, this important event is attended for the third time by the VZMD President Mr. Kristjan Verbič. On the Tuesday night gala reception, Mr. Verbič took the opportunity to engage in discussions about the proposals and efforts from the VZMD and Better Finance, where he is a member of the Executive Board. Mr. Verbič spoke to the President of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Mr. Steven Maijoor, who was the keynote speaker at the reception, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance in Ireland Mr. Michael W. D'Arcy, the Better Finance Managing Director Mr. Guillaume Prache, the FESE President Mr. Petr Koblic, Head of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union at the European Commission Mr. Olivier Guersent, Director of the financial markets division at the European Commission Mr. Ugo Bassi, and numerous other FESE representatives, directors of European stock exchanges and regulatory authorities.

Through the discussions, Mr. Verbič also addressed the VZMD and Better Finance warnings regarding the non-compliance of the Slovenian Financial Instruments Market Act (ZTFI) with EU Directive no. 909/2014, which represents a hazard which could lead to the final destruction of the individual possession of securities in Slovenia. Additionally, he discussed the VZMD proposal to establish the European Tribune institute i.e. an Ombudsman for the economic rights in the EU, the unsuccessful efforts to resolve the issue of expropriated investors in Slovenian banks and the pertaining unconstitutionality, and the current changes of the Book Entry Securities Act (ZNVP-1B) where its authors failed to listen to constructive and well-supported suggestions prepared by the VZMD (in collaboration with Slovenian Consumers' Association).

Mr. Verbič had also discussed these issues with some of the attendees of the annual congress of the European Business Angel Network  (EBAN) in Helsinki, before he traveled to Dublin.

The annual European Business Angel Network congress (EBAN), one of the biggest international events in the field of start-up capital and business angels in Europe, organized for the 20th time by EBAN together with the national members’ organization, has concluded tonight in Helsinki. In addition to the Finnish Business Angel Network FiBAN), this year’s congress was co-organized by the Arctic15 conference, which is considered one of the most successful networking events for start-ups in Europe.

Following the recent 17th global Convention of independent financial advisors (CIFA) at the United Nations (UN) headquarters, entitled "How to mobilize private finance towards funding the Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)?", both the UN Web TV and the CIFA published video reports and interviews with individual participants, among others with the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič (VIDEO).

Last week, Ljubljana hosted the 8th international conference "Africa Day", which was organized by the Bled Strategic Forum, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Club of former Slovenian ambassadors. During the two days' event, over 300 international visitors discussed the future and perspectives of African-European relationships, and their collaboration – specifically in light of demographic changes, employment possibilities and migration patterns while taking into consideration the commitments and the goals of sustainable and inclusive growth. The introductory speeches were held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Miro Cerar, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gana, Mr. Mohammad Habibu Tijani, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cape Verde, Mr. Luis Filipe Lopes Tavares (on photo with Mr. Verbič at the Mayor's reception). The VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, met with the latter in the Cape Verde capital of Praia on the island of Santiago back in 2014 as a member of the "Mission for Growth" delegation. The VZMD has been taking part in international "Africa Day" conferences actively since the very inception of investo.TV (VIDEO from the 2nd conference in 2013) – specifically in terms of efforts regarding their international business-investor programs Invest to Slovenia – investo.si and International Investors' Network – investo.international.  

Yesterday, the United Nation Organization (UN) in New York, USA, hosted the conclusion of the 17th International Forum of the Convention of Independent Financial Advisors (CIFA), this time titled "How to mobilize private finance towards funding the Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)?". The high profile conference, organized in cooperation with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), was attended by numerous prominent guests, decision makers, business persons, representatives of diplomacy, international organizations, universities and institutes as well as financial consultants and other renowned experts from around the world.