Investor Protection Scheme

Investments are compensated at their value on the date of compensation, but up to a maximum of 20 000 EUR per investor.

The Fund’s obligation to compensate investments arises on the date the Bank’s deposits become unavailable. This means that if the Bank is unable to fulfil its obligations and the deposits become unavailable, the Fund, in accordance with the provisions of the Estonian Guarantee Fund Act, compensates the investors according to the procedure set out in the Guarantee Fund Act.

The Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority (Finantsinspektsioon) may decide that a compensation day has occurred if the Bank is unable to make financial instruments or funds available to investors. This may also happen if there are certain circumstances indicating that the Bank is insolvent.

The Fund is not obliged to compensate investments if the Bank is unable to meet its obligations due to international sanctions against the Bank or persons directly or indirectly related to it.

The Fund does not guarantee or compensate investments made by professional investors or the following persons: 

• a state; 
• a local government; 
• legal entities whose main activity is to acquire participation in the capital or carry out certain transactions in accordance with Section 6 (1) 2-12 of the Estonian Credit Institutions Act; 
• companies belonging to the Bank’s consolidation group; 
• members of the supervisory board, management board, or auditors of the Bank or its consolidation group, persons holding at least 5% of the share capital;  
• close relatives of the above persons or third parties acting on their behalf.

Investments subject to compensation based on Sections 52 and 53 of the Securities Register Maintenance Act of the Republic of Estonia (Väärtpaberite registri pidamise seadus) are not compensated.

Compensation is also not paid:

• to an investor whose obligations to the Bank have fallen due, to the extent of such obligations; 
• for investments that have been confiscated following a conviction for money laundering or terrorism financing. If the disposal of the investment is restricted by an injunction from the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit or it has been seized in criminal proceedings for money laundering or terrorism financing, the compensation of the investment is suspended until the injunction is revoked or the court has issued its ruling; 
• for investments belonging to persons subject to international sanctions at the date of the compensation payment. An entity in which a person subject to international sanctions owns a qualifying holding or which is controlled by such a person shall be considered an entity subject to international sanctions.

Compensation for joint investments is paid out to the investors in equal parts, unless the Bank has made other arrangements with the investors. For the purposes of the Estonian Guarantee Fund Act, a joint investment is an investment jointly owned by two or more persons. For the purposes of compensating a joint investment, each individual owner of the joint investment is considered an investor.

The compensation is paid to the investor no later than within one month after the Fund has determined the value of the investment subject to compensation in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Estonian Guarantee Fund Act. In special cases, this period may be extended by up to three months at a time, but the total extension may not exceed twelve months. If compensation is not paid within the specified time limits, the investor should contact the Fund, as the right to compensation is valid for five years from the date of non-availability of deposits.

Further information can be found on the Fund’s website at tf.ee,

The value of foreign currency and financial instruments denominated in foreign currencies will be converted into euros at the exchange rate of the European Central Bank on the date of compensation payment. The conversion is rounded to two decimal places.

Detailed information on the obligations towards investors, as well as on cases where compensation is not paid, is available on the Fund’s website tf.ee.