POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Marcin Olechowski, Wojciech Iwański, Tytus Brzezicki and Piotr Orłowski, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
common European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The CSRD provides for a three-stage timetable for entities to apply the new obligations. Infor - mation will be presented for the first time by the largest entities that already report so-called non- financial information under the Polish Account - ing Act. A year later, the remaining large entities will submit their first reports. Small and medium- sized listed companies will report for the first time for the 2026 financial year. SFDR and taxonomy The aim of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (the “Sus - tainable Finance Disclosure Regulation” (SFDR)) is to provide transparency in specific areas of the activities of financial market participants and investment advisers with regard to ESG issues. To this end, the SFDR introduces a series of dis - closure obligations aimed at obligated entities to consider ESG factors in the investment and advisory process in a consistent manner. Only banks that provide portfolio management ser - vices are subject to obligations under the SFDR. In September 2023, the EC started public and targeted consultations regarding the SFDR, which may result in a proposal to amend the regulation. The obligations listed in the SFDR are closely linked to the obligations referred to in Regulation (EU) 2020/85 (the “Taxonomy Regulation”). The disclosure obligations established in the Taxon - omy Regulation complement the sustainability- related disclosure provisions established in the SFDR. National Regulations and Soft Law The sanctions for non-compliance with spe - cific provisions of the SFDR and the Taxonomy
Regulation by financial market participants and financial advisers were introduced in the amend - ment to the Act on Financial Market Supervision in July 2022. The sanctions are both financial (amounting to as much as PLN21 million) and non-financial. The power to impose them is held by the PFSA. In addition to strictly legislative actions, banks should also be aware of any ESG positions and guidelines issued by the European Central Bank, local and EU (EBA and European Securities and Markets Authority) supervisory authorities, as well as non-supervisory authorities (eg, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures). The PSFA has not yet issued general guidance on ESG matters, but such guidelines may be expected in the short- to-medium term. At pre - sent, the PFSA already includes ESG in the list of matters on which it seeks commitments from investors seeking clearance for the acquisition of a bank or other financial regulated institution. Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (the “Digital Opera - tional Resilience Act” (DORA)), together with del - egated regulations (Regulatory Technical Stand - ards (RTS), Implementing Technical Standards (ITS)), responds to the challenges of operational digital resilience of financial sector entities in the EU. It aims to ensure an adequate standard of cybersecurity at the entities covered by its scope – both in their operational activities and in their relationships with Information and Com - munications Technology (ICT) third-party service providers. The key obligations introduced by DORA are outlined here. 10. DORA 10.1 DORA Requirements
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