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Is Poles’ money safe? What will result from the scandal at the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC)?


On the 11th of December 2018 the 7th debate of the Debate Club on Economy and Entrepreneurship, entitled “Is Poles’ money safe? What will result from the scandal at the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC)?”, took place at the National Economic Chamber in Warsaw.

Taking part in the meeting as speakers were Zbigniew Derdziuk (from the Social Dialogue Committee of the National Economic Chamber), Professor Witold Orłowski (of PwC Poland), Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz (of the Union of Polish Banks), Jacek Rostowski (politician and economist), Dr. Wiesław Rozłucki (economist), and Wojciech Szeląg (of Polsat TV) as moderator.

The debate’s topic was triggered by reports of deficiencies at the Financial Supervision Commision. Leszek Czarnecki submitted a notification to the District Attorney of suspicion of criminal corruption on the part of the President of the Financial Supervision Commission, Marek Chrzanowski. The FSC’s head allegedly suggested to Leszek Czarnecki that he hire a lawyer, who was an acquaintance. Doing so would cause a representative of the President of Poland at the FSC, along with the President of the Bank Guarantee Fund, Zbigniew Sokal, to give up on their plan to have a state bank acquire Czarnecki’s Getin Noble Bank for one złoty. Marek Chrzanowski was arrested by the Central Anticorruption Bureau and charged with abuse of authority by a public officer to achieve personal gain via another.

In the face of these irregularities at the financial market supervisory arm, is Poles’ money safe? What does the so called FSC scandal mean for the average person? We asked esteemed economists to address these issues.

In the panelists’ opinion, over the past 30 years we have been able to build a stable and well regarded banking sector. Our money is safe because the system works smoothly and, thus far, its institutions do also. However, we must constantly take care that finance and politics are independent of each other as much as possible. The Financial Supervision Commission’s reputation, as well as its leader’s, should be uncontaminated. Unfortunately, a disequilibrium of trust in the financial supervisory body could easily turn into a significant crisis of credibility for the institution and the entire financial sector. Further, the news that authorities are willing to take over a private bank for one złoty is a very bad signal for overseas investors. Today, we are already witnessing an exit of foreign banks from Poland and their subsequent movement to other, much more favorable and predictable markets.

The panel experts noted that their funds, a qualified staff, a strong information management system and reliable supervision all determine the safety of money housed at banks. Conclusions should be drawn regarding market supervision - of the way in which it is organized and the monitoring taking place within it.

The debate was organized by the International Institute of Civil Society and the Committee for Social Dialogue of the National Economic Chamber (the organizers), as well as Orange Poland (a technology partner).