Article 4

1. Member States shall ensure that schemes provide for cover of not less than ECU 20 000 for each investor in respect of the claims referred to in Article 2 (2).

Until 31 December 1999 Member States in which, when this Directive is adopted, cover is less than ECU 20 000 may retain that lower level of cover, provided it is not less than ECU 15 000. That option shall also be available to Member States to which the transitional provisions of the second subparagraph of Article 7 (1) of Directive 94/19/EC apply.

2. A Member State may provide that certain investors shall be excluded from cover by schemes or shall be granted a lower level of cover. Those exclusions shall be as listed in Annex I.

3. This Article shall not preclude the retention or adoption of provisions which afford greater or more comprehensive cover to investors.

4. A Member State may limit the cover provided for in paragraph 1 or that referred to in paragraph 3 to a specified percentage of an investor's claim. The percentage covered must, however, be equal to or exceed 90 % of the claim as long as the amount to be paid under the scheme is less than ECU 20 000.