POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Wojciech Ługowski, Lawarton Lugowski Kapica Spolka Komandytowa
clear disclosures, explicit consent and strict compli - ance with consumer protection laws. This framework allows insurtech firms to innovate, but within strict regulatory boundaries, ensuring fairness and risk transparency in underwriting. 8.2 Treatment of Different Types of Insurance All insurers operate under the Insurance and Reinsur - ance Activity Act, supervised by KNF. Life insurance requires stricter capital reserves and consumer pro - tections, while property and casualty insurance fol - low different risk models. Solvency II and the Insur - ance Distribution Directive further differentiate capital requirements and distribution rules across insurance types. Regtech providers are not directly regulated unless they engage in regulated financial activities such as AML monitoring or regulatory reporting. In these cas - es, they may require licensing or registration. Financial institutions using regtech solutions must comply with regulated outsourcing laws, which impose strict over - sight on third-party providers (TPPs) handling critical functions. Firms remain fully responsible for compli - ance, ensuring service providers meet regulatory and operational standards. DORA further strengthens cybersecurity and resilience requirements for ICT providers working with finan - cial institutions. Outsourcing agreements must meet detailed legal requirements, covering audit rights, risk management, reporting obligations and termina - tion conditions. These contractual terms ensure that financial firms maintain control over outsourced ser - vices, linking directly to performance and accuracy requirements. 9.2 Contractual Terms to Ensure Performance and Accuracy Regulated outsourcing agreements in financial ser - vices must include detailed contractual provisions to ensure compliance, security and service reliability. Contracts define service levels, regulatory obligations 9. Regtech 9.1 Regulation of Regtech Providers
and liability for breaches. Financial institutions must ensure that outsourced services meet legal require - ments under MiFID II regulations, PSD2 and national financial laws. DORA sets overarching cybersecurity and resilience requirements, but outsourcing regulations dictate specific contractual obligations. These requirements make compliance legally binding rather than a mat - ter of market practice. Financial firms impose strict controls on regtech providers to mitigate risks and maintain regulatory oversight. 10. Blockchain 10.1 Use of Blockchain in the Financial Services Industry Traditional financial institutions in Poland are increas - ingly exploring blockchain to enhance security, effi - ciency and transparency. Many banks are testing blockchain-based solutions for digital documentation, compliance and settlement processes. The tokenisa - tion of assets is gaining traction, allowing for fractional ownership and improved liquidity in capital markets. A notable blockchain-based initiative is the dura - ble medium technology developed by the National Clearing House or KIR (a state-owned company). This system integrates blockchain and “write once, read many” (WORM) solutions to ensure secure and immutable storage of documents in online banking. Many banks and financial institutions have adopted this system to meet regulatory requirements. Several legacy financial players are also members of the Blockchain and New Technologies Chamber, a non-government organisation supporting the adop - tion of blockchain. Meanwhile, the NBP is analysing blockchain’s potential in central bank digital curren - cies (CBDC). Polish legislation still needs to adapt to MiCA (since the crypto-assets act adopted by parliament was sub - sequently vetoed by the president). KNF is presently designated as the competent authority responsible for supervision of the crypto-asset market. A unified regu - latory approach could strengthen blockchain adoption
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