IRF.L Regulatory News (IRF)

2 Apr 2007 07:02

IRF European Fin Investments Ltd 02 April 2007 IRF European Finance Investments Ltd 2 April 2007 IRF European Finance Investments Ltd. Announces commencement of electronic trading of its shares Common Shares IRF European Finance Investments Ltd. ("IRF" or the "Company") today announcedthat CREST members will now be able to hold and transfer interests in IRF'scommon shares of par value $.0015 (ISIN BMG493831058) (the "Common Shares")within CREST, pursuant to a depositary interest facility (the "DI Facility")established by IRF with Capita IRG Trustees Limited ("Capita"). The CommonShares will not themselves be admitted to CREST. Pursuant to the DI Facility, Capita has issued depositary interests for IRF'sCommon Shares which will today be admitted to trading on AIM. These depositaryinterests may be held and transferred within CREST, enable the transfer andsettlement of trades in respect of the Common Shares electronically. If CREST members wish to use the DI Facility, they can do so by inputting astock deposit in the usual way pursuant to standard CREST procedures. They willalso be required to submit a deposit certification form to Capita, certifyingcompliance with the relevant transfer restrictions imposed by U.S. securitieslaw. The deposit certification form must be submitted to Capita no later than 6hours after submission of a stock deposit to CREST. Holders of Common Shares wishing to continue holding Common Shares incertificated form and trade such shares can continue to do so. Unlike transfers of certificated Common Shares, transfers of the depositaryinterests will be subject to stamp duty reserve tax at the rate of 0.5%. For further details, please refer to CREST operational bulletin number 1281,issued on 19 March 2007, for the special procedures contained therein. Warrants The Company has arranged for Capita to issue depositary interests for IRF'swarrants (ISIN BMG493831132) (the "Warrants"). These depositary interests willnot be admitted to AIM until after the expiration of the offer made on 28 March2007 to holders of Warrants to exercise their Warrants on modified terms. About IRF IRF was formed to invest in the financial services industry throughout Europewith a primary focus on credit institutions and insurance companies in SouthEastern Europe. IRF's current strategy is the acquisition of financialinstitutions having valuations which do not reflect their potential and wheremarketing and operational efficiencies are possible. IRF owns a 20.16% interestin Proton Bank S.A. ("Proton") and a 5.36% interest in Marfin Popular Bank("MPB"). Proton is a full service financial services institution, including retail andinvestment banking as well the provision of specialized corporate advisory andinvestment services. Proton is listed on the Athens Shares Exchange under thesymbol 'PRO'. For more information about Proton, please see www.proton.gr. MPBis full-services financial institution that was created through the recentmerger of Marfin Financial Group, Laiki Hellas and Egnatia Bank. As a result,MPB is a regional financial institution with 312 branches in 12 countries. MPBis listed on the Athens Shares Exchange under the symbol 'MARFB'. For moreinformation about MPB, please see www.laiki.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange