During the visit of the Managing director of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (Better Finance) Mr. Guillaume Prache in Slovenia, where he for VZMD.tv / investo.TV gave an exclusive interview on most burning and ongoing issues related to the bail-in bank restructuring in the EU, putting special stress on disconcerting procedures in Slovenia, which is why the Better Finance President, Mr. Jean Berthon, as early as on February 8 had sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Miro Cerar, from whom no reply whatsoever has been received yet.

Tuesday's ruling of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg explicitly indicated that legal wrangles and consequences arising from the controversial amendment of the Banking Act (ZBan-1L) should be resolved within the Slovenian judicial system. With the Bill on regulating the status of expropriated investors in Slovenian banks the PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders' Association (VZMD) endeavors to spark off and actualize the debate on the approaches for a constructive elimination of consequences of the expropriation of over 100,000 citizens (with no compensation at all) during the complete nationalization of six Slovenian banks.

VZMD's bill does not provide for any burdening of the state budget or taxpayers - the situation of the expropriated investors should be regulated by issuing bonds through Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC). Such regulation of the situation involves an incremental approach and decreases the liquidity pressure, while simultaneously linking the payments to the actual (successful) continuous business operations of the banks and BAMC.

With today's ruling, the European Court of Justice has answered seven questions of the Slovenian Constitutional Court posed during the constitutional review of the amendment of the Banking Act (ZBan-1L). Here is the crucial answer to the first question and the fact that the European Court of Justice has definitively resolved the issue of the legal nature of the European Commission's Banking Communication as of August 1, 2013, which - as maintained by the PanSlovenian Investors` & Shareholders` Association (VZMD) since the very beginning - is not binding for the EU Member States.

Yesterday Slovenian criminal police conducted a pre-criminal investigation of the Slovenia's Central Bank (the Bank of Slovenia) and the largest Slovenian bank, NLB, d.d., along with their consultants, Ernest & Young and Deloitte. The police collected evidence regarding possible wrongdoing of the banks as part of the bank bail-in in which all the shareholders and subordinated bondholders, including retail investors, were entirely wiped out in six Slovenian banks in December 2013.

VZMD is re-publishing the criminal complaint it filed on March 6, 2015, which alleged criminal offenses of abuse of office or official duties according to Paragraph 3 in connection with Paragraph 5 of Article 257 of the KZ-1 with Article 20 of the KZ-1 or malfeasance in office according to Article 258 of the KZ-1 in connection with Article 20 of the KZ-1. The criminal complaint was filed at the Specialized Office of the State Prosecutor against the Governor and Vice Governors of the Bank of Slovenia.

This week, the PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders' Association (VZMD) sent two press releases (titled: "We Will Not Give Away Our Port" - a Spontaneous Rally at the Port of Koper and "We Have Risen - the Rest of Slovenia Will Follow!") to global media, regarding the strategically significant company Port of Koper. To this moment the press releases were viewed by 293  and published in over 265 relevant and influential media.  

KOPER, SLOVENIA. Families and supporters of Port of Koper employees who had blocked the entrance to the port for three days staged a peaceful protest at the port's entrance gates on Sunday (the traditional family day in Slovenia). Around 1,000 employees blockaded the port on Friday morning - before the General meeting of the Port of Koper (Luka Koper) at which the government-controlled Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), the Port of Koper's majority shareholder, revoked its request for replacement of three of the Port of Koper's Supervisory board members. The request had been a point of contention because the Port of Koper has a two-tiered board composed of a Supervisory Board and a Management Board. Supervisory Board members have the power to elect or fire members of the Management Board. 

Before the upcoming General meeting of one of Slovenia's most important companies, and its only port - Port of Koper - the Slovenian coastal and harbor city of Koper hosted the historic event "We have Risen - the Rest of Slovenia will Follow!". The PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders' Association (VZMD) was also gathering proxies from 11,300 minority shareholders to vote at the General meeting. The VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, addressed an audience that had mushroomed to over 4,000 attendees when concerned citizens joined port workers. In his speech, he stressed the catastrophic management by the government of the public property of the Republic of Slovenia and all of its citizens, pointed out minority shareholder problems in advance of Friday's meeting and called for sanctioning of the persons responsible in his speech.

The PanSlovenian Shareholders` Association (VZMD) welcomes the important letter by the Member of the European Parliament, Ms. Romana Tomc, addressed to Ms. Danièle Nouy, the Chair of the Supervisory Board at the European Central Bank (ECB). In her letter, the Slovenian MEP asked for an explanation as to why in the bank stress test performed by the ECB in October 2014 the projections for the Slovenian banks NKBM and NLB for the end of 2014 - i.e. only two months after the performed test - undervalued the actual state by more than a half. Ms. Romana Tomc, MEP, also asked for an explanation as to why the Chair Nouy in a recent interview for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) praised these results, even though their inaccuracy must have been known to her by then, and why she presented them as a "confirmation" of the Bank of Slovenia's calculations on the basis of which the latter keeps defending the cancellation of all shares and subordinated bonds in all Slovenian systemic banks.

On Wednesday, a gala dinner and reception introduced the Convention of Federation of European Securities (FESE), which brings together 36 stock exchanges from 30 countries. This year's convention on Malta was titled »European Capital Markets: One Team or Just a Dream?«, and through various presentations, round tables and debates some of the most topical issues regarding financial and capital markets were addressed.

A week after successfully completing the 5^th international tour, the preparations at the PanSlovenian Investors' & Shareholders` Association (VZMD) are well underway for the 6<sup>th</sup> this years' tour of the international business-investor programs of VZMD: Invest to Slovenia – investo.si and International Investors` Network – invest-to.net, in the context of which the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, will visit Malta and Romania. This week thus at the Malta's St. Julian's he will attend the congress of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), and thereafter in Bucharest the General Meeting of the International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (BSCSIF).

During the 14^th international Forum of independent financial advisors (CIFA), the eminent Monaco's Hermitage hotel was the venue of the presentation "What the best intentions of the world could do for consumers: the Slovenian case", in which the PanSlovenian Shareholders' and Investors' Association (VZMD) President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, explained the so called bail-in the Slovenian way last Friday. On this occasion, the reputable attendees expressed their considerable interest as well as surprise at the actions of the Slovenian financial authorities, competent institutions, regulators and European Commission representatives. The Swiss non-profit organization which has the special status of an advisor to the United Nations Economic and Social Council is concerned with strengthening of the role of independent financial advisors internationally aimed at better protection of the investors' interests in the wake of mounting regulations and complexity of financial markets.

At the end of last week, the 4^th international conference and forum Centrallia ended at the RBC congress center in the Canadian city of Winnipeg. During the event many B2B meetings and receptions of the forum participants were held, whereby the PanSlovenian Shareholders' and Investors' Association (VZMD) President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, had 14 direct organized business talks in two days.