BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users, joins its Slovenian Member, the Pan-Slovenian Shareholders' Association (VZMD), in welcoming the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that the wipe-out of shares and bonds (the “bail-in”) held by shareholders and junior bondholders of the leading Slovenian banks in 2013-2014, violated the right to the enjoyment of property. Even though there are no details to date, it is undeniable that this violation of property rights must be remedied through the appropriate pecuniary compensation.
In light of the fact that the Bank of Slovenia falsely declared a negative bank capital and therefore failed to justify its "extraordinary" expropriation measures on this basis, it is important to refute claims that the ECHR ruling is of a merely procedural nature and to stress the need for appropriate compensation for the damages incurred.
Over the years BETTER FINANCE has supported VZMD in its efforts to remedy the unconstitutional violations of investors' property rights, and now joins them in their call not to delay the disclosure of the "evaluations" by the Bank of Slovenia and by the European Central Bank that served as the basis for the expropriation of investors. The ECHR also denounces the secrecy surrounding the “evaluations” in question.
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