On Friday, March 16th, 2012, Mr. Kristjan Verbič, the President of the VZMD – PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association, and Ms. Sarah Kavšek, the Secretary General, along with the VZMD.TV and investo.tv film crew, actively participated at the opening ceremony of the Brussels Stock Exchange, the EuroFinuse and Euroshareholders' International Conference on Financial Services Users' Protection, and the Press Conference discussing the call for further EU actions in 2012.  

At the opening ceremony, Ms. Jella Benner-Heinacher, the President of Euroshareholders, the European federation of shareholders' organizations, and of EuroFinuse, the European organization of Financial Services Users, known before as EuroInvestors, was joined by Mr. Frédéric de Lamine de Bex, the director of Institutional Relations at the NYSE Euronext, Mr. Guillaume Prache, the Managing Director of EuroFinuse and the Secretary General of Euroshareholders, and Mr. Jan Maarten Slagter, the Vice-President of Euroshareholders.  With the ringing of the ceremonial bell, she commenced trading on the Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Paris Stock Exchanges.

Following the bell ceremony, the representatives of the VZMD partook at the EuroFinuse and Euroshareholders' International Conference on Financial Services Users' Protection and a Press Conference discussing the call for further EU actions in 2012.  One of the main objectives and topics for discussion of the International Conference in Brussels was to how restore trust in the capital markets, since in light of the global financial crisis, is presently a heavily debated and deliberated theme.  The key note speech addressed by Mr. Jonathan Faull, the general director of Internal Market and Services of the European Commission, also highlighted this issue and many others, including current issues regarding retail investors' protection, the point of view of the European Commission, and the steps that the European Commission has taken and will take in the following years to protect individual investors. 

Largest International_Meeting_-_Slovenia_2012

Other prominent speakers included Mr. Vincent J. Derudder, the Chairman of FECIF – European Federation of Financial Advisers and Financial Intermediaries, Mr. Jarkko Syyrila, the Deputy Director General of EFAMA – the European Fund and Asset Management Association, and other renowned contemporaries from financial themes.  

In addition, the preceding Press Conference on the call for further EU actions in 2012 tackled five major points, which included: EU sovereign bonds, financial transaction tax, investment advice regarding MiFID, PRIPS, and IMD directives, shadow banking, and the collective redress scheme.

Above all, the numerous investors, journalists, and experts in these fields were very enthusiastic about the upcoming Investors' Week 2012, which will be hosted by the VZMD through its investo.si – Invest to Slovenia program, and will be taking place from the 19th to the 23rd of September in Ljubljana.  This will be the world's largest meeting of investors' representatives and the first time that Euroshareholders, EuroFinuse, and the WFIC-World Federation of Investors' Corporations will simultaneously convene at the investors' summit and convention.  In Brussels, many of the prestigious and esteemed guests have already confirmed their participation at the conference in Slovenia.