board, the general meeting and, perhaps the management board or chief executive, the organs of the bank are the governor, the board of directors, the council of regency and the board of censors. the special arrangements for the appointment of the members of these organs, the specific composition and role of the council of regency, and the provisions for the exercise of supervision are all examples of the way in which the dominance of the public interest is reflected in the bank ’ s special governance structure. this is also the explanation for the quite specific role of the belgian state, which is involved both as a shareholder and as a sovereign state. it is because it acts primarily as a sovereign state that it granted the bank the right of issue and has a priority right to the resulting profits. however, the national bank has always been scrupulous in ensuring compliance with the ethical principles and values underlying the belgian corporate governance code. it can be said that the system of governance and control imposed on us is just as exacting as that recommended by the belgian corporate governance code, and in some respects even more so. in fact, as a member of the european system of central banks, the bank is subject to special rules and obligations which do not apply to any other belgian companies. moreover, i feel that there are few companies which publish such detailed information as that contained in part 2 of the bank ’ s annual report, which you have all received and which is available on the bank ’ s website. that demonstrates our desire to act correctly in providing all possible information for the public, and more particularly for our shareholders, on the operation of our institution. * * * as in 2003 and 2004, the judgments handed down in 2005 and early 2006 following the legal actions brought by certain shareholders found in favour of the bank. thus, on 27 october 2005, the brussels commercial court confirmed, as the court of arbitration had already done in 2003, that the bank has not lost its right of issue and that it therefore does not have to liquidate its reserve fund. since the start of monetary union, the bank has in fact shared the right to issue euro banknotes with the european central bank and the eleven other national central banks of the eurosystem. a second judgment passed on 2 february 2006, again by the brussels commercial court, concerned a write - back from the provision for future foreign exchange losses, effected at the end of the 2003 financial year and intended to adjust the amount of the provision in line with the change in

the currency risk. the amount of that write - back was included in the bank ’ s financial income shared between the bank and the state. the brussels commercial court rejected the demand made by certain shareholders to cancel that decision, and confirmed that the annual accounts for 2003 were perfectly legal. in helping to clarify the status of our institution and shed light on its special characteristics, these court decisions should put an end to certain arguments and reduce the fluctuations in the bank ’ s share price. in the foreword to the annual report, when i mention unjustified speculation concerning these shares, i mean that these fluctuations originated because of legal arguments which we consider to be incorrect, and which the judgments so far have also refuted. * * * in 2005, the bank ’ s profits improved, mainly as a result of the increase in the amount of euro banknotes in circulation ( + 15 p. c. ), and hence the increase in the bank ’ s share of that issue. this expanded the volume of interest - earning assets held as the counterpart to the banknotes, and therefore increased the income which these assets generate. moreover, the bank earned a higher rate of interest on its dollar investments and did not have to constitute provisions, as it did in 2004, to cover losses incurred by the ecb. the improvement in the return on the assets meant that the state was once again able to receive seigniorage income. it is in return for the right of issue which the state has granted the bank that the state is entitled to the part of the income from the net interest - earning assets which exceeds 3 p. c. of those assets. the dividend paid to shareholders is, as usual, increasing in line with inflation. thank you for your attention. i will now hand you over to the vice - governor for the detailed presentation of the annual accounts for 2005 ; it is the accounts that constitute the most important information for the general meeting and which have, as in previous years, given rise to the largest number of questions from shareholders.