WFI MEMBER PROFILE: AEMEC

The Spanish Association of Minority Shareholders of Listed Companies (AEMEC) is a non-profit organization which defends and protects the interests of minority shareholders, creating communication channels between listed companies and their shareholders, promoting the effective participation of minority shareholders in the affairs of listed companies and also creating a climate of associative sensitivity that promotes the collective defense of minority shareholders' rights. In this connection, at the AGM of CaixaBank AEMEC defended the interests of CaixaBank's minority shareholders by denouncing the swap transaction between CaixaBank and Criteria. For further information: www.aemec.eu.

FINANCIAL SECURITY AND ACCOUNTING MALPRACTICE

From the very beginning of the new century there have been several corporate scandals both in Europe and the United States, which have led to huge stock market falls, nationalization of banks and even the disappearance thereof. These scandals have caused serious damage to shareholders, employees, and creditors alike. In addition, they have evidenced the need to enhance the existing rules and regulations on financial information disclosure by the large listed companies, thus strengthening the enforcement of transparent financial reporting.

In an effort to call attention to these serious issues and to protect individual investors, the World Federation of Investors (WFI) has drafted a report: "Financial Security and Accounting Malpractice", 13 July 2015.

The aim is to submit the report to all of the European supervisory authorities, European audit bodies, as well as to the remaining relevant financial institutions, in order to achieve the following goals: *i) making clear its concerns regarding the need to implement a regulatory change which goes beyond Directive 2014/56/EU, yet along the lines of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX); (ii) putting forward the need to adopt measures aimed at stopping the financial scandals, stemming from financial and accounting malpractice, that have taken place in Europe in the last years, and; (iii) reporting the situation of a series of European companies facing instability as a result of dubious financial practices, which could very well lead to new financial scandals to add to the ones already existing.

In spite of the fact that remarkable advances have been made in Europe departing from the US SOX Act — although not every country has taken such piece of legislation as its starting point — European regulation is far behind the stringent US rules and regulations put in place to combat fraud and financial malpractice. WFI hopes to engage all parties in a dialog and the creation of laws to insure transparency, accurate accounting practices, and fair treatment of all shareholders.

WFI Cover Letter  |  "Financial Security and Accounting Malpractice" Report

F2iC (Fédération des Investisseurs individuels et des Clubs d'investissement)

By F2iC General Manager Aldo Sicurani (WFI Vice-President & Treasurer)

France has over four million individual investors representing 105 billion Euros in assets. Like elsewhere in the world, those numbers were higher a decade ago. F2iC is successor to the French Federation of Investment Clubs (FFCI) which was founded in 1968. F2iC is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote long-term financial savings by contributing to the development, improvement and maintenance of financial literacy of consumers, savers, investors, and individual shareholders. In this context, it aims to:

• Promote economic growth by helping large and small French companies to finance their development
• Present the Stock Exchange as a legitimate alternative to support SMEs and French companies
• Give the French a taste for risk and entrepreneurship
• Influence the political debate and help at least stabilize an already unfavorable taxation trying to redirect it to promote long-term risk taking by individuals
• Enhance investors' protection by grouping, informing and educating them in economic and financial matters
• Help develop the presence of individual shareholders in response to these needs

PANSLOVENIAN SHAREHOLDERS' ASSOCIATION (VZMD)

The President of the PanSlovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD) Mr. Kristjan Verbič, MSc, attended the European Small and Mid-Cap Awards 2014 award ceremony. Mr. Verbič was visiting Brussels at the conclusion of this year's 8th tour of the VZMD internatinal business-investment programs Invest to Slovenia www.investo.si in International Investors' Network www.invest-to.net.

VENTURE INVESTORS FOUNDER ROGER GANSER ELECTED TO WISCONSIN INVESTOR HALL OF FAME

Roger Ganser, the nationally known founder of Venture Investors LLC, Wisconsin's oldest and largest venture capital firm, will be inducted into the Wisconsin Investor Hall of Fame during a November 12, 2014 dinner tied to the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium. Ganser was elected by a group of state investors that included the past two inductees: Dick Leazer, a founder of Wisconsin Investment Partners, the state's oldest angel investment network; and George Mosher, A Milwaukee "super angel" investor. Ganser will be honored during a dinner of about 60 invited angel and venture capitalists following the first day of the Early Stage Symposium in Madison.

"It's terrific that there is still the opportunity to focus on early stage company financing through the Early Stage Symposium," Ganser said. "Every state has to be looking at the importance of venture capital. We have to be looking where the job opportunities are going to be."

Founded in 1982, Venture Investors, then called Madison Capital Corporation, made its first two investments in Promega and Office Solutions, both companies that presented at the 1984 Madison Venture Fair, the state's first venture conference. Promega, based in Madison, now has more than 1,300 employees and 15 global branches, Office Solutions, a Madison software company, was acquired in 1988. "It was clear, at that time, that we needed more flexible capital so I went out and raised about $1 million for a high-risk capital pool," recalled Ganser.

In addition to being a general partner of five of Venture Investors funds focused on technologies coming out of Big Ten universities, Ganser is also chairman and director of NAIC/BetterInvesting, a Michigan-based non-profit investor education organization, and chairman and director of the World Federation of Investors, an international association of national investor education and advocacy organizations based in Belgium. Ganser was also appointed in 2012 to a four-year term on the Security Exchange Commission's Investor Advisory Committee, which is currently reviewing the accreditation standard for investors in startup companies. He is also a member of the Investor Issues Committee of the Financial Industry National Regulatory Agency.

FINANCIAL INDUSTRY REGULATORY AUTHORITY (FINRA) ANNOUNCED INVESTOR ISSUES COMMITTEE

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced the creation of a new Investor Issues Committee to advise FINRA staff on matters that significantly affect individual and institutional investors. WFI Chairman Roger Ganser was appointed to this committee as a representative of individual investors.

The Investor Issues Committee will advise senior staff at FINRA on proposed rule-making, policy initiatives and other issues that significantly impact both retail and institutional investors. The Committee will also help inform FINRA's economic analysis from the perspective of investors. The new Investor Issues Committee includes the Chairman of NAIC/BetterInvesting, Roger H. Ganser. He was founder of Venture Investors LLC and is a member of the NYSE Individual Investor Advisory Committee.

FINRA described the creation of the Investor Issues Committee as an important development, which will enable FINRA staff to better understand the perspective of investors. The Committee will create an additional channel for FINRA to receive input from the perspective of the investing public by advising senior staff at FINRA on proposed rule-making, policy initiatives and other issues that significantly impact both retail and institutional investors. The Investor Issues Committee will help FINRA better understand the needs and protect the interests of the investing public.

FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business — from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, informing and educating the investing public, providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms.