from any other body. - professional secrecy : officials shall not disclose any information covered by the obligation of professional secrecy obtained in the exercise of their duties and responsibilities that has not been made public or is not accessible to the public except deliberately as part of the communication strategy of the ecb. - separation of the supervisory function from the monetary policy function : officials shall respect the separation of the ecb ’ s specific tasks concerning policies relating to prudential supervision from its tasks relating to monetary policy, as well as other tasks. - public appearances and public statements : officials shall carry out their duties and responsibilities as, and consider themselves in public appearances to be, representatives of a high - level ecb body. - relations with interest groups : while maintaining the open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society required by the treaty on european union, officials shall at all times, and in particular in their interactions with interest groups, observe their independence and professional secrecy obligations, and the basic principles established in the code of conduct. - declaration of interests : officials shall on an annual basis submit to the ethics committee, for assessment and onward submission to the president, a signed declaration of interests which shall include information about the member ’ s previous occupational activity, private activities, official mandates and financial interests, as well as about the gainful occupational activity of their spouse or partner, that may raise conflict of interest concerns. - conflicts of interest : officials shall avoid any situation which may raise conflict of interest concerns. a conflict of interest concern arises where an official has personal interests that may influence, or may be perceived as influencing, the impartial and objective carrying out of their duties and responsibilities and also extends to, but is not limited to, their direct family members ( any parent, child, brother or sister ), spouses or partners. - rules on private financial transactions : officials shall comply with the material rules on private financial transactions laid down in the ethics framework of the ecb. it is recommended that officials place their investments under the control of one or more recognised portfolio managers who have full discretion for assets which go beyond those required for ordinary, personal and family use. - other rules : ( i ) officials shall not solicit, and shall exercise caution when offered, any advantages which are connected in any way with the duties and responsibilities conferred on them ; ( ii ) officials shall be confident that any award, honour or decoration is compatible with their public status and does not compromise their independence or raise conflict of interest

functioning perfectly. as i said, we set interest rates at the right level to deliver price stability. this is independent from the decisions bis central bankers ’ speeches we take regarding the non - standard measures, which have to be commensurate with the situation in the markets and the need for a proper transmission of monetary policy. you have seen an example this spring. following the march meeting of the ecb ’ s governing council we pre - announced that there was a possibility that the governing council would increase interest rates. that was of course a very important message that the governing council was sending as regards the “ standard measures ”. at the same time we decided to maintain the “ non - standard measures ” for the second quarter of this year, particularly the policy of full allotment and a fixed rate for the supply of liquidity with a duration of three months. non - standard measures are temporary by nature. i do not imagine that we would have them permanently, because that would be relevant only in a permanent situation of dysfunctional markets, which is of course not our working assumption. question : the ecb began purchasing government bonds from the secondary market ( i. e. the securities markets programme or smp ) in may 2010. is there a limit to the size of this programme? this is one of the non - standard measures we have taken. i have nothing further to add to what i have already said on that. question : when will this programme be terminated? i have nothing to add. question : the yields on the stressed euro area government debt securities in some maturities are now much higher than on several occasions in the past during the smp. yet the ecb has not particularly actively purchased securities from the markets during recent weeks and months. why? we take the decisions that we consider appropriate in the circumstances. question : do you consider the outgoing president of the deutsche bundesbank, axel weber, a constructive and discrete member of the governing council of the ecb? axel weber has been an important member of the governing council and his contribution has been appreciated during the entire period of his membership of the governing council. question : in a recent interview in the der spiegel magazine mr weber made the following statement : “ there are minutes of meetings of the american federal reserve bank and the bank of england in which divergent opinions are documented. i think that ’ s exemplary. i had already told my colleagues ahead of time that we weren ’ t with a routine decision, but an