Prospectus - Notowania

Madoff
In December 2008, Bernard L. Madoff, former chairman of the NASDAQ and owner of
Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BMIS”), an investment company registered
with the Securities Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), was arrested on charges of securities fraud for what has
been described by U.S. authorities as a Ponzi scheme. In the same month, a bankruptcy
administrator (the "SIPA Trustee”) for the BMIS liquidation was appointed in accordance with
the U.S. Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970. In March 2009, Bernard L. Madoff was
found guilty of several crimes, including securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, and
providing false information to the SEC: In June 2009, Bernard L. Madoff was sentenced to 150
years in prison.
Following Bernard L. Madoff’s fraud conviction, several criminal and civil suits were filed in
various countries against financial institutions and investment advisers by, or on behalf of,
investors, intermediaries acting as brokers for investors and public entities in relation to losses
incurred. The Issuer, some of its subsidiaries, and some of its employees or former employees
were subpoenaed, or may be subpoenaed in the future, in the proceedings and/or investigations
of the Madoff case in various countries, including the United States, Austria, and Chile.
As at the date of Bernard L. Madoff’s arrest, the Alternative Investments division of Pioneer, a
subsidiary of the Issuer (“PAI”), acted as investment manager and/or investment adviser for
some funds that had invested in other funds with accounts at BMIS. Specifically, PAI acted as
investment manager and/or investment adviser for the Primeo funds and AllWeather funds. PAI
acted as the investment adviser for the Primeo funds in April 2007, after having been sold to
BA Worldwide Fund Management (“BAWFM”), an indirect subsidiary of BA. The Primeo and
AllWeather invested in other funds, which held accounts managed by BMIS. Certain
documents prepared by these funds showed assets managed by the Issuer's subsidiaries on
behalf of fund administrators of €805 million in November 2008. Based on these documents,
the amount includes invested capital and proceeds from the investment. Given Bernard L.
Madoff’s admission of guilt and the facts that emerged following the fraud committed by
BMIS, it is clear that the amounts indicated in the aforementioned documents do not accurately
reflect the investments made and the proceeds from these investments. As a result, the above
amounts should not be considered indicative of the amount of losses incurred by final investors
of the funds involved.
Speculative funds established under Italian law and managed by PAI do not have any exposure
to funds that invested in accounts managed by BMIS.
HVB issued various tranches of debt securities whose potential yield was calculated based on
the yield of a hypothetical structured investment (synthetic investment) in the Primeo funds.
The notional value of the debt securities issued in reference to Primeo funds was €27 million.
As at the Date of the Prospectus, some legal proceedings were brought in Germany regarding
debt securities issued by HVB and connected to Primeo funds, citing HVB as the defendant.
BAWFM, a subsidiary of BA, acted as investment adviser for Primeo funds beginning in April
2007. Some BA customers purchased shares in Primeo funds that were held by BA.
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