Credit Unions in Poland : Diagnostic and Proposals on Regulation and Supervision

A new amendment to the Law on Credit Unions (CU) dated November 5, 2009, will pass CU supervision to the Polish Financial Services Authority (PFSA), the body that regulates other financial institutions in Poland. Currently, CUs (also known as SKOKs by their Polish acronym) are regulated under the Credit Union Act of December 14, 1995. In Articles 33-35, the National Association of Credit Unions (NASCU) was given the responsibility to regulate and supervise the CUs. However, the new law is not yet operational, as it is being reviewed by the Constitutional Court and there is no date set for the Court's ruling. The law would come into force within sixty days of the Court's decision confirming that the law is in line with the Constitution. This report provides information on the Polish CU experience, analyzes the new regulatory and supervisory framework created by the new CU Law, and provides recommendations for its implementation. Recommendations are accompanied by relevant experience from other countries.