INVESTOR PROTECTION ASSOCIATION

The Investor Protection Association is a non-commercial organization established in April, 2000 on the basis of the Coordination Center for protection of investors' rights for the purpose of uniting investors' efforts aimed at protection of their rights and improvement of the corporate governance in Russia. The Association members include domestic and international investors with sizeable investments and considerable work experience on the Russian market.

All investors, operating in Russia, face political risks, inefficiency of corporate governance and weak judicial system. Recently investors witnessed numerous violations of minority investors rights by Russian issuers. Among such violations there are: misrepresentation of information, dilution, dividend delays, degradation of assets and diversion of cash flows. The latter of the above occur as the result of asset stripping, tolling and transfer pricing.

The Association offers its members assistance in the following areas:

Expert Advice:

Preliminary legal analysis upon investors' requests
Formulation of a collective position of the members on actions of specific issuers and general corporate governance issues
Support of promotion of investors' representatives to Boards of Directors and Audit Commissions of Russian issuers
Analytic research on topics of current interest

Representation of investors' interests in legal cases and conflict situations

Participation in court proceedings as a party to the lawsuit
Legal Consulting and Support in Legal Proceedings
Conflict Situation Mediation
Information about companies specialized in corporate governance, and recommendations for selection

Representation of collective position in government bodies