Report of the auditors of the Bank of Finland on the Bank of Finland’s financial statements, accounting records and governance for 2023

To the Parliamentary Supervisory Council

We have audited the Bank of Finland’s accounting records, financial statements and governance for the year ended 31 December 2023. The financial statements signed by the Board of the Bank of Finland comprise the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, notes on the accounts, and the annual report.

Responsibilities of the Board

The Board is responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the preparation of the Bank of Finland’s financial statements and comply with statutory requirements. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the accounts are in compliance with the law and have been arranged in a reliable manner. The Board is also responsible for such internal control as it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s responsibilities

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements based on our audit. We comply with the requirements of professional ethics. We conducted our audit in accordance with good auditing practice in Finland. Good auditing practice requires that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement, and whether the Board is guilty of an act or negligence which may result in liability in damages towards the Bank of Finland or whether the Board has violated the Act on the Bank of Finland. The governance audit covered examination of the legality of the Board’s actions.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the Bank of Finland’s preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view.

The auditor considers internal control in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Bank of Finland’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the observance of the principles applicable to the financial statements approved by the Parliamentary Supervisory Council, the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Opinion on the financial statements

In our opinion

  • The financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the principles of financial statements approved by the Parliamentary Supervisory Council and current rules and other regulations. The financial statements give a true and fair view of the Bank of Finland’s financial position and financial performance in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the preparation of the Bank of Finland’s financial statements. The information on the annual report contained in the financial statements is consistent with the information contained in the profit and loss account, balance sheet and notes on the accounts.
  • The financial statements for the financial year audited by us can be adopted.
  • We support that the profit for the financial year be used as proposed by the Board.

Helsinki, 8 March 2024

Veijo Niemi

Markku Eestilä     Tuula Haatainen

Juha Kerimaa, Authorised Public Accountant, KHT

Tiina Lind, Authorised Public Accountant, KHT, JHT

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