mandate is defined as reaching an inflation rate which is close to 2 % but below 2 % in the medium term, which means that we ’ ll have to define the medium term in a way that, if the inflation rate was for a long time below 2 %, it will be above 2 % for some time. the key point is that the governing council is symmetric in the definition of the objective of price stability over the medium term. ” 13 draghi, m. ( 2014 ), “ monetary policy communication in turbulent times ”, speech at the conference de nederlandsche bank 200 years : central banking in the next two decades, amsterdam, 24 april. 14 forward guidance on interest rates had first been introduced in 2013 but was enhanced in this period. 15 for a review of the evidence see hammermann, f., leonard, k., nardelli, s. von landesberger, j. ( 2019 ), “ taking stock of the eurosystem ’ s asset purchase programme after the end of net asset purchases ”, ecb economic bulletin, issue 2 / 2019. 16 measured as total extra - euro area trade in goods and services as a share of gdp. 17 see krippner, l. ( 2015 ), term structure modeling at the zero lower bound : a practitioner ’ s guide, palgrave - macmillan. 18 bobeica, e., ciccarelli, m. and vansteenkiste, i. ( 2019 ), “ the link between labor cost and price inflation in the euro area, ” working paper series, no. 2235, european central bank. 19 fidora, m., giordano, c. and schmitz, m. ( 2017 ), “ real exchange rate misalignments in the euro area ”, working paper series, no. 2108, ecb. 20 imbs, j. and l. pauwels ( 2019 ), “ twenty years of convergence ”, paper presented at ecb forum on central banking, 17 – 19 june 2019. 21 hartmann, p. and smets, f. ( 2018 ), “ the first twenty years of the european central bank : monetary policy, ” working paper series, no. 2219, european central bank, forthcoming in the brookings papers on economic activity. 8 / 8 bis central bankers'speeches

##rtify, based on internationally - accepted accounting standards, that the financial statements of the entities are accurate – that is, it is a “ true and fair view ” of the institution ’ s financial position for the period in which such statements are prepared. although the auditor ’ s report is normally intended for the shareholders, the acts that the bank administers, including the banks and financial institutions act, superannuation ( general provisions ) act, life insurance act and savings and loans societies act, require the auditor to report to bank on any matters where the auditor has reasonable grounds for believing that the institution is insolvent, at significant risk or the state of affairs of the financial institution will materially affect depositors, policyholders, and contributors. the auditor ’ s opinion helps to establish the credibility of the financial statements, and the bank, as the supervisor, would normally rely on this opinion and use the accounts to verify and complement the periodic financial reports received from the financial institutions. the bank, as the prudential supervisor of licensed financial institutions, also wants to see the role of external auditor extended to include conducting compliance auditing. the bank would like to see licensed financial institutions attest their internal control systems, conduct checks and balances on the governance structures, and issue comprehensive disclosure statements, including disclosures along a number of risk dimensions, and be approved by the external auditors. this should assist license holders to comply with the prudential requirements of the acts. in summary, the bank would like to have a tri - partite approach in the supervision of the licensed financial institution, which is important for fostering closer working relationships, particularly with the external auditors. consequently, auditors will require better understanding of the supervisory concerns in order to help them perform their audit functions and thus report adequately on those requirements. an example of such arrangement is the tri - partite meeting arrangements between the bank, financial institutions licensed under the banks and financial institutions act and their external auditors, where the licensed financial institutions are required to provide a statement on compliance on all prudential standards and fx limits, a declaration by the ceo, endorsed by the board on whether the board and senior management have identified key risks facing the bank, established systems to monitor those risks and whether those systems are operating effectively and are adequate having regard to the risks they are designed to control. the external auditor shall provide to the bpng a report on their opinion whether the bank has complied with all specified prudential standards and