Mr. Gerry Cross:

As I was describing, the core question is as set out in Article 6, which relates to the financial position of the issuer. Delegated legislation passed by the European Commission sets out things in more detail. For example, with regard to an Israeli bond as a third country sovereign bond, Annex 10 of the Commission delegated regulation sets out a list of the things that need to be within the prospectus. We examine the Commission's list of criteria, all of which ultimately relate to the financial position. These include, for example, what is described around the economy of the issuer, the public finances of the issuer and the legal, government and political system of the issuer. I refer to all the things one would expect regarding a sovereign issuer. We do not assess for accuracy. We approve over 650 third country bond prospectuses in a year plus many thousands of final terms. Therefore, there is a very large operation. We are not tasked with assessing the accuracy, nor could we, given all that is to be considered. What we are tasked with is ensuring that what is required to be included under the prospectus regulation and the delegated legislation that the Commission has made, particularly in Annex 10, is included appropriately.

As the Governor referred to, we are also asked to assess whether we believe a prospectus is appropriately complete, comprehensible and consistent. The Commission's delegated regulation will set out in clear terms what it means for a prospectus to be complete, comprehensible and consistent. Legislation on prospectuses has been around for a long time, and the regulation is the culmination of many years of getting it right in Europe. Ensuring risks to the financial position and determining whether there is consistency, completeness and comprehensibility are fundamentals to which we cleave.