Financial Supervision Authority Research Articles

Basis for the Polish Financial Supervision Authority to issue permits to conduct business activity on the financial market as an element of the national security policy of Poland

The article analyzes the basis for issuing a permit to conduct business activity on the financial market in the context of the national security policy. In this paper the role of the administrative decision is explained and the mode of proceedings by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority is analysed. Additionally, the principles restricting the functioning of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority as well as the key aspects of licensing to conduct business activity on the financial market and prudence requirements are characterised.

THE ROLE OF BUSINESS INSURANCE IN NATIONAL ECONOMY IN POLAND

The main aim of the study is to show the role of business insurance in the Polish national economy. The fi rst part presents an overview of the insurance market. In the second part the importance of insurance in the national economy is discussed, based on calculated penetration rates, insurance density, activity monitoring, coverage ratio and solvency ratio. Finally the density and penetration rates in Poland were compared with those in other EU countries. The primary research method was descriptive method and the basic indicators of the importance of insurance in the national economy. The main source materials were data from the Central Statistical Offi ce, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the Polish Insurance Association. This study covers the period 2006–2014. The study confi rmed a good standing of the Polish insurance market and the fact that it systematically reduces the distance that separates the Polish insurance market from the largest European markets.

Locally Regularized Linear Regression in the Valuation of Real Estate

Abstract Regression methods are used for the valuation of real estate in the comparative approach. The basis for the valuation is a data set of similar properties, for which sales transactions were concluded within a short period of time. Large and standardized databases, which meet the requirements of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, are created in Poland and used by the banks involved in mortgage lending, for example. We assume that in the case of large data sets of transactions, it is more advantageous to build local regression models than a global model. Additionally, we propose a local feature selection via regularization. The empirical research carried out on three data sets from real estate market confirmed the effectiveness of this approach. We paid special attention to the model quality assessment using cross-validation for estimation of the residual standard error.

DETERMINANTS OF RETURN ON EQUITY OF COOPERATIVE BANKS IN POLAND

The aim of the study was to analyse the diversity of return on equity in the cooperative banks in Poland in 2010– 2014. The analysis was conducted using data of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, on the basis of a modifi ed decomposition rate of return on equity. Assessment of the rate of return on equity was made in a size of banks, as determined by the value of assets. In addition, in order to determine the strength and direction of impact the individual components of the model on the formation of return on equity method was applied functional. The study suggests that cooperative banks eff ectively use the equity, because the rate of return on equity was signifi cantly higher than the rate of return on assets. The average return on assets in 2010–2014 was relatively lower in the largest banks and ranged from 0.7–0.9%, and the smallest banks return on assets was approximately 1%. In turn, the return on equity was higher at banks with major assets (over 200 million PLN). In 2013–2014 the rate of return both on assets and equity expressly declined. The main determinants of changes in return on equity were changing the multiplier reduction of profi t from banking activities by operating costs and costs of banking risk and return on assets, as well as measured result on banking activities.

Skuteczność ograniczenia wypłaty dywidendy banków jako instrumentu polityki nadzorczej w Polsce

This article makes a critical analysis of Polish restrictions on the payment of dividends against the Community solutions, including the effectiveness of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority recommendations addressed to Polish banks in terms of the expected dividend policy. According to the author, there are significant discrepancies between the Polish and the EU regulations in this field. They are systemic in nature since the Community rules based on a clear algorithm and the Polish ones are more discretionary. The author emphasizes, however, that despite the identified discrepancies, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority recommendation addressed to the Polish banks in terms of the expected dividend policy for the years 2011–2014 was effective and allowed the banks to strengthen their capital base, thereby improving their ability to absorb potential losses.

An Experimental Analysis of Price Formation on the Polish Power Exchange

Abstract The Polish energy market gained its competitive character in late 1990s. At that time in majority of European countries a new law was enacted (in Poland – in 1987), which enabled the creation of internal energy markets. The Polish Power Exchange has been functioning since the end of 1999. However, from the very onset it has constituted a vital component of under grounding liberalization of electricity market. Since it was created the Polish Power Exchange has served as a market mechanism for setting objective energy market price. Support and control of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority guarantee the security of concluded transactions. The spot energy market was created as the first one and has functioned according to the rule of the double auction. The model of Sadrieh will be used for the description of the auction rules applied to the spot energy trade on the Polish Power Exchange. Furthermore, an algorithm on the basis of which it is possible to forecast transaction prices is presented. The effectiveness of this algorithm will be compared with other traditional methods of forecasting transaction prices.

Exchange Rate Risk On The Mortgage Market

Abstract Strict connections of the real estate market with the financial market are an unquestionable phenomenon at every level of investing, starting from the lowest individual investor, and finishing with national and transnational players. One of the more interesting examples of such a dependency is the problem of the risk of financing the real estate market, which results from numerous macro-, mezo- and microeconomic conditions, including, inter alias, the phenomenon of capital migration, supranational bank regulations or the development of currency exchange rates on world markets. The most recent example of such a dependency is, among others, the decision of the National Bank of Switzerland from the beginning of 2015 to abandon the Swiss franc-euro cap, which will go down in the history of the world financial market. Its global effects will surely be very difficult to assess, while the resulting turbulences and consequences for many (institutional, corporation and individual) market participants cause, on the one hand, awaiting a reaction and actions aimed at helping entities affected by the consequences of the mentioned decision and, on the other, many questions and doubts. The paper will present current selected aspects concerning currency risk in the context of financing the residential real estate market and the directions of actions prepared in reaction to the abovementioned risk. Polish conditions will be presented against the background of examples of foreign solutions. The aim of the work is to present: the essence of currency risk in the context of the current financial situation of the Polish banking sector, the most important directions of proposals for remedial actions aimed at mitigating the effects of the significant increase in the exchange rate of the Swiss franc in relation to the Polish currency, a short overview of selected solutions/regulations regarding the exchange rate risk of mortgages taken out in a foreign currency in other countries. The method employed was the critical analysis of the most-recent reports and recommendations of the National Bank of Poland, Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Polish Banking Union, and other experts on the subject of financing the real estate market, as well as a comparative analysis of solutions regarding currency risk in selected countries.

Development Conditions of Polish Housing Market During Economic Crisis

Abstract The main purpose of the paper is to present some of the mechanisms connected with the functioning of the Polish housing market, with due regard to demand and supply volatility as well as the changing financial conditions at the time of the global financial crisis of the first decade of the present century. Special attention is given to the financial and legal regulations concerning the housing market, which were introduced in response to the economic downturn. On the basis of research conducted by the authors, as well as available reports and statistics for 2007-2013, the article will explore market phenomena (the size and pattern of demand, supply and prices on the housing market, and the changes they undergo) on the one hand, and the legal and financial regulatory changes directly affecting them, on the other. It will also study the effects of the implementation of the recommendations made by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) by banks in the wake of the global financial crisis. These cause banks to tighten their credit policies and, accordingly, have an impact on their loan portfolios. Information from secondary sources has also been used, notably from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the KNF, the National Bank of Poland (NBP), as well as the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) and the Credit Information Bureau (BIK). Changes that occurred during the period of economic crisis in the availability of housing have also been examined.

Compliance Assessment Regarding Corporate Governance Requirements Applied for Romanian Investment Firms

Abstract We based our research on the assumption that an efficient implementation of corporate governance requirements allows prudent supervision of Romanian investment firms by the Financial Supervision Authority. Moreover, some significant weaknesses in corporate governance has facilitated the emergence of extremely delicate circumstances in which some Romanian investment firms lost their brokerage licenses as a result of fraudulent operations that favoured misappropriation of client assets. Improving the effectiveness of governance structures would help to prevent the occurrence of similar future events, restoring investor confidence in the Romanian capital market mechanisms and institutions. The main focus of our research is to assess the compliance level with relevant corporate governance requirements applied to Romanian investment firms.

Prospects for the Development of Equity Release Products in Poland – Reverse Mortgage from a Cultural Perspective

Abstract At the time of crisis, which involves state funded benefits as well as an increase in public debt, the members of the European Union are forced to consolidate their budgetary expenses. The social cost, however, is extremely high, as the general public is unwilling to accept it. Demographic experts predict a decrease in the amount of people at an economically productive age, not to mention the continuously growing life expectancy. This fact will have serious economic consequences in Poland. That is why the pension system reform was initiated. The inevitable cuts in spending on welfare benefits might cause a situation in which one of the possibilities of increasing retirement benefits leads to the use of the most valuable and long-lasting assets that can be found in households - real estate. A financial instrument called reverse mortgage enables the gradual liberalization of the value of real estate and, thereby, can be used as an additional source of retirement income. In Poland, the lack of verification by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and legislative regulations as far as contractors and consumers are concerned, may pose a potential risk. There are two main problems, namely, the legal status of companies that offer reverse mortgages (in the case of possible bankruptcy and debt vindication) as well as issues concerning cyclic value changes on real estate markets. Because of the lack of a reverse mortgage bill, there is no institution which can control the financial situation of contractors, thereby guaranteeing the safety of potential customers. The goal of this article is to determine the prospects of the development of reverse mortgage in Poland from a cultural perspective in terms of potential client preferences by carrying out a survey among people aged 18 to 30 (mostly students from different cities) and senior citizens over the age of 60. The other aim is to assess the influence of cultural determinants on the perception of equity release products. The author poses a question: In what way does ownership and inheritance attitude influence the volume of reverse mortgage sales?

Porządkowanie funkcjonowania bankowości równoległej (shadow banking) w Polsce i w Unii Europejskiej

Threats related to improper regulation of shadow banking institutions apply as well to their customers as to whole financial system. It is perceived by financial authorities in Poland (Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the National Bank of Poland), and in the European Union (European Commission, European Central Bank), and also globally (Financial Stability Board). However, the task of proper regulation of shadow banking activities is already in early stage of completion and still requires from institutions mentioned above a lot of work to do.

Zarząd komisaryczny w prawie bankowym

The appointment of a board of receivers is an instrument used in rehabilitation proceedings. The board of receivers originates from outside the bank but acts upon it from inside. The appointment of a board of receivers is an optional right of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego – KNF) and is applicable when the bank management board fails to submit a recovery program in accordance with art. 142(1) of the Banking Act or when the execution of that program is ineffective. The board of receivers is appointed by decision of the KNF. By virtue of art. 145(4) of the Banking Act, the KNF decision is administrative and, as such, can be appealed. The supervisory board of a bank subject to recovery measures may file an appeal to theSupreme Administrative Court within 7 days from the receipt of the decision. On the day the board of receivers is appointed all current governing authorities of the bank are suspended and replaced by the board of receivers, which takes over all their powers. This is why the board of receivers is often called “special bank authority”. Main tasks of the board of receivers consist in drawing up a rehabilitation program and agreeing it with the KNF, administering the execution of the program, and reporting the results achieved under the program to the KNF and the supervisory board at intervals of no less than three months.

The role and tasks of the internal audit and audit committee as bodies supporting effective corporate governance in insurance sector institutions in Poland

Faced with the risk of consecutive waves of financial crisis and economic recession, government committees, financial supervision authorities and financial institutions themselves – both in Poland and worldwide – have launched a number of measures to make the supervision of insurance sector institutions more effective, particularly in aspects related to efficient risk management and internal control. The article describes the impact of the amendment of laws and other regulations on the development of the present internal control systems in insurance sector institutions. It draws attention to the need for a new structure of the internal control system, and the role and purpose of the internal audit and the audit committee as the bodies supporting effective supervision in insurance undertakings and reinsurance undertakings.

The role of the polish financial supervision authority in the new european architecture of supervision over the financial market1

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main provisions of the regulation of European financial supervision from the perspective of the competencies and functions of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). It was also considered necessary by the Authors to present the current tasks, aims and competencies of the KNF. The implementation of a new supervisory structure in the EU brought about changes to the functioning of the KNF. These changes are particularly visible in the regulatory functions as domestic supervisory authorities are obliged to introduce uniform supervisory standards defined on a European level. The current reform of the European financial markets has shown that the role of national supervisors in the financial safety net requires a new approach. It is obvious that in these times of financial crisis, national supervisors must incur significant costs, namely the functional reduction of regulatory independence in some matters. This paper is a contribution to the discussion on the course of the development of Polish and EU financial markets supervision.

The role of the financial supervision authority and the situation of the client on the financial services market with special emphasis on the banking services market

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The European fiscal reform and the plight of the Euro

The paper presents the background of the American crisis in 2007-2008 that later spread into the global crisis. It distinguishes and discusses four phases of the crisis: subprime mortgage crisis, soaring dollar and the Lehman Brothers fiasco, US and global recession, and, finally, European debt crisis. In the above context, the benefits and costs of joining the Eurozone are presented, particularly from the Polish perspective. The need of fiscal reforms and concerns regarding Eurozone institutions are addressed. The paper has been prepared based on the Keynote Speech by Robert Mundell during the 17th Global Finance Conference held in Poznan, Poland in June 2010. The Speech presented here was made possible in part by support from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. (original abstract)

Effect of capital constraints on risk preference behavior of commercial banks

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze how the financial supervision authority utilizes the restrictions of capital constraints imposing on commercial banks the need to develop the macro economy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses multilateral game to deduce the loan characteristics of banks, vector and void coordinates to analyze the behavior choices of banks under capital supervision, sets up an index to describe the risk preference of banks, and analyzes the process with Chinese data empirically.FindingsThis paper finds big banks have a loan preference for big enterprises and small banks have a preference for establishing a bank syndicate to pursue large projects. Further, the paper notes the conditions by which the heterology banks choose loans across the border and proves that changes of capital requirements would force the credit structure of the commercial banks to adjust along an efficient frontier broken line or an efficient frontier plane under the conditions of interest rate regulation or interest rate marketization, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsIt is very complex to describe the choices of risk behavior of banks and the simple supervision method needs to be adjusted.Practical implicationsThis paper finds that banks show risk preferences of credit structure, and capital constraints would affect it greatly; regulators should guard against capital constraint softening.Originality/valueIt is the first time that the conditions of banks beyond the loan border have been studied and the behavior adjustment of banks using the vector and void coordinate analyzed.

Etyczne aspekty wykonywania działalności akwizycyjnej na rzecz otwartych funduszy emerytalnych

Canvassing has become a profession following the pension system reform that established open pension funds collecting contributions from individuals. Because pension insurance performs social functions, it is necessary to ensure that the canvassers demonstrate professionalism as well as the necessary ethical attitudes. This means that the appropriate legal criteria for their selection must exist and that the persons themselves should meet integrity and moral requirements, so that the reliability of services is guaranteed. Canvassing focuses on persuading individuals to join an open pension fund (OPF) or remain its member so it plays a relatively important role. In the first place, the canvassers impart knowledge on how the pension system works, on the importance of being an OPF member, etc. Besides, canvassing accounts for a large part of OPFs’ financial management that spent increasingly large amounts to acquire new members as reported by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Poaching members of other OPFs, particularly those with long membership, is an effective way for a fund to increase the value of its assets, however multiplying the canvassing costs. The insured themselves are also affected, as the canvassers compete for them ruthlessly, reaching sometimes for ethically dubious methods.

Wykorzystanie reguł aukcyjnych do handlu energią w Polsce

The Polish energy market gained its competitive character in late 1990s. At that time in majority of European countries a new law was enacted (in Poland – in 1987), which enabled the creation of internal energy markets. The Polish Power Exchange has been functioning since the end of 1999. However, from the very onset it has constituted a vital component of under grounding liberalization of electricity market. Since it was created the Polish Power Exchange has served as a market mechanism for setting objective energy market price. Support and control of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority guarantee the security of concluded transactions. The spot energy market was created as the first one and has functioned according to the rule of the double auction. Double auction are a form of money and goods exchange, during which the bids are made by purchases as well as by sellers. Besides the price, each bid discloses the amount of ware which is to be purchased by contracting parties. The rules of the double auctions, as well as of other auction types, are comparable to the rules of a game. The double auction is one of the most common exchange institution, used extensively in stock markets, commodity markets an in markets for financial instruments, including options and futures. Searches and simulation experiments pertaining to the functioning of the double auctions have been conducted on a wide scale. They were initiated in 60s in twenties centuries by the Vernon L. Smith. Many authors such as: Wilson (1987), Friedman (1991), Gode and Sunder (1993), Gjerstad and Dickhaut (1998), Sadrieh (1998), Xia, Stallaert, Whinston (2004) attempted to construe models of behavior of double auction participants. Although these models have furthered understanding of the interaction of individual behavior and institution in the double auction. The model of Sadrieh will be used for description of the auction rules applied to the spot energy trade on the Polish Power Exchange. Furthermore, an algorithm on the basis of which it is possible to forecast transaction prices is presented. The effectiveness of this algorithm will be compared with other traditional methods of forecasting transaction prices.

Europeizacja nadzoru bankowego w Polsce

Banking supervision is a form of state interventionism applied by this state to express its intention to exercise control over the safety and appropriate functioning of banking system. Membership of the EU has created a new situation in the operation of banking supervision. After the process of harmonization of Polish supervisory solutions was successfully completed, the supervision started to operate under the new circumstances, regulated by the principles of the uniform European financial market. As of January 1, 2008, banking supervision has been vested with the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). The experience of financial crisis has revealed significant deficiencies in financial supervision, mainly banking supervision. Therefore, the European Commission has decided to accelerate the pace with which financial supervision in the European Union is implemented.