EN 11 12 2019 Official Journal of the European Union C 417/85 3 13 EUROPEAN SECURITIES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY (ESMA) INTRODUCTION 3 13 1 The European Securities and Markets Authority (hereinafter Ôthe AuthorityŐ, or ÔESMAŐ), which is located in Paris, was established by Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (104) The AuthorityŐs task is to improve the functioning of the EU internal financial market by ensuring a high, effective and consistent level of regulation and supervision, promoting the integrity and stability of the financial systems and strengthening international supervisory coordination in order to ensure the stability and effectiveness of the financial system 3 13 2 The Table presents key figures for the Authority (105) Table Key figures for the Authority Budget (million euros) (1) Staff as at 31 December (2) (1) Budgetfiguresarebasedonpaymentappropriations (2) StaffincludesEUofficials,EUtemporaryagents,EUcontractstaffandsecondednationalexperts,notinterimworkersandconsultants Source: Data provided by the Authority THE COURTŐS STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE PROVIDED TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Ń INDEPENDENT AUDITORŐS REPORT 2017 42 226 2018 44 231 OPINION 3 13 3 We have audited: (a) the accounts of the Authority which comprise the financial statements (106) and the reports on the implementation of the budget (107) for the financial year ended 31 December 2018; and (b) the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts, as required by Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) Reliability of the accounts Opinion on the reliability of the accounts 3 13 4 In our opinion, the accounts of the Authority for the year ended 31 December 2018 present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Authority at 31 December 2018, the results of its operations, its cash flows, and the changes in net assets for the year then ended, in accordance with its Financial Regulation and with accounting rules adopted by the CommissionŐs accounting officer These are based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector (104) OJ L 331, 15 12 2010, p 84 (105) More information on the AuthorityŐs competences and activities is available on its website: www esma europa eu (106) The financial statements comprise the balance sheet, the statement of financial performance, the cash flow statement, the statement of changes in net assets and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes (107) The reports on implementation of the budget comprise the reports which aggregate all budgetary operations and the explanatory notes 
(2) Medzi zamestnancami sú úradníci EÚ, dočasní zamestnanci EÚ, zmluvní zamestnanci EÚ a vyslaní národní experti, nie dočasní agentúrni zamestnanci a konzultanti Zdroj: Údaje poskytnuté orgánom VYHLÁSENIE DVORA AUDÍTOROV O VIEROHODNOSTI PREDKLADANÉ EURÓPSKEMU PARLAMENTU A RADE – SPRÁVA NEZÁVISLÉHO AUDÍTORA EURÓPSKY ORGÁN PRE CENNÉ PAPIERE A TRHY (ESMA) Európsky orgán pre cenné papiere a trhy (ďalej len „orgán“ alebo „ESMA“), so sídlom v Paríži, bol zriadený na základe 2017 42 226 STANOVISKO 3.13.3.