A three-day meeting of the World Federation of Investors (WFI) took place in Milan, Italy, over the past week, actively attended by the VZMD President, Kristjan Verbič, as a member of the Executive Committee. He arrived in Milan directly from a joint conference of European regulatory and supervisory bodies - the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) - which, as part of the "ESAs Consumer Protection Day," was held in Budapest following last year's session in Madrid.
On the eve of the conference, the host, Dr. Paolo Brambilla, President of the Italian Association New Savers, welcomed invited guests and representatives from national investor associations from Europe and the United States at his Milan residence. The following day, the international investor conference titled "Building Financial Futures: Promoting Shareholder Engagement and Financial Literacy" took place, organized by the WFI in collaboration with the European Federation of Investors BETTER FINANCE and the Italian association New Savers. The conference featured numerous distinguished speakers, including WFI President, Mark Northway, BETTER FINANCE President, Jella Benner-Heinacher, Senator, Italian Parliament Financial Commission, Cristina Tajani, and General Secretary of the Italian Association of Private Banks (AIPB), Maria Antonello Massari. Unfortunately, the General Secretary of the International Agency for Cooperation and Peace – Trade Point – UN, Gaetano Visalli, had to apologize for his absence due to the further escalation of extremely sad and worrying situation in the Middle East (Western Asia) and his urgent travel there.
In addition to current speeches and presentations, participants listened to panels discussing the role of banks in making stocks and mutual funds accessible to individual investors, as well as the role of stock exchanges in financial education of citizens. As a speaker in the latter panel, the VZMD President highlighted the efforts and successes of the civil society "Share SUPPORT", various proceedings of the Association in cases of squeeze-outs and collective lawsuits, as well as legislative efforts both in Slovenia and at the EU level, where Mr. Verbič also directly participates in the Financial Services User Group at the European Commission (FSUG) and in advisory groups of standing committees at ESMA. Finally, he presented the international business-investor programs of VZMD: Invest to Slovenia - investo.si and International Investors' Network - investo.international, as well as related activities of some Slovenian public companies, highlighting Zavarovalnica Triglav, d.d. (Triglav Insurance Group), which is also supporting the efforts for financial education of (potential) investors.
The conference was followed by the WFI General Assembly, where representatives of national associations outlined their efforts and plans, and the WFI's work program for the upcoming year was discussed, also regarding leadership changes. A special recognition was awarded to long-standing WFI Secretary General, Dr. Jean-Pierre Paelinck, in gratitude for his years of successful work and invaluable role. It was also decided that next year’s annual meeting of WFI will take place in the USA, organized by the BetterInvesting association, which focuses on investor education and promotes long-term investing, uniting 200,000 investors across more than 500 local and state investor clubs throughout the USA. The meeting in Milan was attended by the Director of BetterInvesting, Patrick Donnelly, who took over leadership from the long-time WFI President and BetterInvesting Director, Roger Ganser, from whom WFI bid farewell three years ago.
The conference day concluded with a less formal dinner that provided numerous networking opportunities, which participants continued to extend the following day while visiting Milan and the famous Ambrosiana, where they were greeted by the director of "Pinacoteca Ambrosiana", Dr. Federico Gallo, who personally guided them through an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's works, including the remarkable "Codex Atlanticus", and Raphael's original template of the famous fresco "The School of Athens".
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