Polish Bank Association Warns Against Destabilising the Bank Sector

Polish Bank Association issued an open letter in which the members warn against the President’s bill which aim is to help Polish mortgagors. Bankers say that if the bill is passed, the move may have dire consequences to the entire banking sector in Poland.

The bill in question concerns thousands of mortgage payers who hold CHF-denominated loans and experience negative effects of Swiss franc price fluctuations. The provisions were prepared by experts from the President’s Office and offer assistance to Poles who find themselves in difficult financial situation due to circumstances they had no control over. The proposals have recently been approved by Sejm commission and will be moved forward onto the legislative path.

The bill in its current form introduces e.g. Mortgagors Support Fund that will offers zero interest loans for those debtors who even after selling their property are unable to settle their liabilities. Financial support will last up to 36 months. Moreover, people with mortgages in CHF will be allowed to convert their debt into PLN. The Polish bank association will be obligated to make quarterly payments towards the so-called Conversion Fund which will be used to finance this solution.

According to the Association members, the solutions put forward in the bill are extreme. They argue the new law will mean higher costs of functioning for the Polish bank association in Poland and a hike in bank charges as well as mortgage payments for all clients. Moreover, there is some talk of the proposed provisions being incoherent with EU regulations on public aid. The Polish bank association operating in Poland, such as Raiffeisen, Santander and Deutsche Bank, voiced concerns over the the bill.

Interestingly, according to polls, Polish people are not in favour of special help from the state to CHF mortgagors. Most people see it as unfair. Currently in Poland there are approximately 820 thousand people who hold mortgage in Swiss currency.