jose luis escriva : ceremony of taking up of office as governor of the bank of spain speech by mr jose luis escriva, governor of the bank of spain, at the ceremony of taking up of office as governor of the bank of spain, madrid, 24 september 2024. * * * good morning and many thanks for joining us for this event. it is an honour to address you all as i take up the reins as the governor of the banco de espana with a great sense of responsibility. today is a day that holds particular significance for me. to return to the banco de espana is to come home, back to the place where i first made my way as an economist and where i learned so much from my superiors and colleagues. my journey of discovery then continued at other central banking institutions : the european monetary institute, the bank for international settlements and the european central bank. indeed, when congratulating me on my appointment, my boss at this last institution ( professor ottmar issing ) remarked : " don't forget what you have learned ". for the fact is that central banks are an extraordinary school of learning. rigour, the quest for evidence - based objectivity and the exercise of independent judgment, among others, are core values of central banking culture and have served as my guide throughout my professional career. these values proved particularly useful when it fell to me to give shape to the independent authority for fiscal responsibility, over which i presided for the institution's first six years, starting in 2014. the same can be said of my time at the head of the network of eu independent fiscal institutions. guarding the institution's independence against external influences and constraints constituted a singular challenge from day one. i was also undoubtedly helped in this task by having had the great fortune of meeting and working with each and every one of the banco de espana's governors and deputy governors since the institution was first granted independence back in 1994, exactly 30 years ago. because all of them, in differing circumstances and in environments of varying complexity, understood that the banco de espana's de jure independence must go hand - in - hand with conduct and a management style that ensure that such independence also remains a de facto reality. and, speaking of banco de espana governors, i would be remiss not to single out my predecessor, pablo hernandez de cos. pablo and i have a very fruitful relationship, stretching back over more than 25 years. during his mandate he went to

only regulatory aspects, but also the adoption of best practices and the fostering of an institutional culture that upholds transparency as a guiding principle for our work. this is the best way to ensure our accountability to society. here, the banco de espana has made great strides in recent decades. yet there is still room for improvement and innovation as we strive to be more transparent. indeed, the more independent we are and seek to be, the more we must take to heart the principles of transparency and accountability as essential means of giving legitimacy to unelected power. all of these aspects will also be looked into by the governing council's new working group, to ensure that greater independence, on the one hand, and transparency and accountability, on the other, go hand - in - hand. giving greater priority to the areas of transparency and communication in the new banco de espana organisation chart, which has been approved by the executive committee, is a step in that direction. on an even loftier plane, a central bank's legitimacy ultimately rests on how efficiently it is able to discharge the functions delegated to it by the elected powers. here, the banco de espana has made notable efforts in recent years to ensure that certain areas of its remit are subject to external scrutiny. but we can go further still. first, by making the current evaluation office report directly to the governing council, thereby 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches strengthening the independence of its assessments. second, by ensuring that the strategic plans deriving from such evaluations are fully integrated within the banco de espana's medium - term budgetary planning. this greater transparency should, without doubt, yield a greater, deeper understanding of the bank's work among the general public. we must endeavour to make our work, as well as our tremendous historical and cultural heritage, more accessible to the public at large. with this strategic horizon in mind, technological innovation is one area in which we have to step up our efforts. digitalisation has great potential. artificial intelligence and, in particular, generative artificial intelligence, is proving hugely disruptive due to its widespread impact across all economic sectors, including the financial sector, and its ability to affect the way in which decisions that impact our lives are made. examples of this include the models that assess creditworthiness, identified in the ( recently approved ) european regulation as highrisk artificial intelligence systems. the banco de espana must be ready to anticipate these challenges, to this end embracing new