beginning of 1995, she accepted all obligations of the maastricht treaty, including the plan for the economic and monetary union. the painful financial instability of the late 1980s and early 1990s was probably one main reason why the euro enjoyed relatively strong appeal among finnish politicians and the population at large as well. after the banking crisis of the early 1990s, financial supervision was reorganized in finland in 1993. financial supervision was made a part of the bank of finland, but as an independent institution with its own decision - making bodies. later, also insurance supervision was merged to this supervision authority which operates in connection to the bank of finland. bis central bankers ’ speeches the newly re - established financial stability of the mid - 1990 ’ s allowed finland to join the european exchange rate mechanism ( erm ) in october 1996. finland was then among the first group of countries to adopt the euro in 1999. the governor of the bank of finland, dr sirkka hamalainen, became one of the members of the ecb ’ s first executive board, and actually its first female member. now a part of the eurosystem, the bank of finland continues in its role as the monetary authority and the bankers ’ bank in finland. nevertheless, it has streamlined its operational functions, while investing in more than previously in its economic research and communications activities. the bank now has 390 employees ( at mid - 2014 ) and 580 when the financial supervision authority is included. the bank of finland has traditionally invested a significant amount of resources in economic research. this continues today. as part of its profile within the eurosystem, the bank of finland has also developed a research concentration on the economic and financial developments in russia, which is again a very important trading partner for finland. according to recent polls, the bank of finland is now among the top three most trusted institutions in the country. the current governor of the bank, since 2004, is mr. erkki liikanen, who has previously served as finland ’ s finance minister and a member of the european commission. bis central bankers ’ speeches

silver standard independently of the rouble. as the russian rouble remained inconvertible to silver, finland ’ s monetary system was thus effectively separated from russia ’ s. in 1868, the bank of finland was transferred under the control and ownership of the parliament. until then, the bank had been subordinated to the imperial senate of finland. the system in which the central bank belongs to the parliament was adopted following the swedish example and has lasted to this day. most european countries moved to the gold standard in the 1870s, and finland followed suit in 1878. at that point, the gold content of the finnish markka was defined so that it was exactly equivalent to the french franc ( as well as the belgian and swiss francs, and the italian lira ). finland thus became, by a unilateral decision, an effective member of the european franc zone ( the latin monetary union ), even if not a signatory to the monetary union agreement. the bank of finland managed to keep the exchange rate of the markka vis - a - vis the french franc constant for 36 years, from the start in 1878 until the outbreak of the first world war. finland declared her independence in december 1917, following the october revolution in russia. the first world war and the finnish civil war of 1918 caused sharp inflation. in bis central bankers ’ speeches 1923 the bank of finland finally manages to stabilize the value of the currency, and the markka had lost almost 90 per cent of its prewar value in gold. at this lower parity, the markka was returned to gold as of the beginning of 1926, following the british pound sterling. in the interwar years, the bank of finland became the undisputed leader of finland ’ s economic policy. this was largely due to the very strong governor of the bank, risto ryti, who acquired considerable prestige in finland and also abroad. ever since ryti ’ s governorship, which lasted from 1924 until the outbreak of the second world war, the governor of the bank of finland has been one of the most central figures in finnish public life. this is illustrated by the fact that four members of the board of the bank of finland have become presidents of the republic : kyosti kallio, risto ryti, urho kekkonen, and mauno koivisto. two of these, mr ryti and dr koivisto, had been governors of the bank. the great depression forced the