*  *  *  Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends, I should like to begin by telling you how delighted and proud I am, as are the other members of the Board of Directors and the Council of Regency of our Bank.
First, I am delighted to see so many friends of the National Bank of Belgium coming to Brussels this afternoon to celebrate the 150th anniversary of our institution with us. Friends who have come from Belgium, elsewhere in Europe, the rest of the world; from the world of public and private finance, but also from the political, economic, social and academic world.