POLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Marcin Olechowski, Wojciech Iwański, Tytus Brzezicki and Piotr Orłowski, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
Introduction and Overview of Important Events Despite the challenging geopolitical and eco - nomic situation, including the war in Ukraine, relatively high interest rates in Poland, and a decreasing customer interest in loans, the Pol - ish banking sector remains in a strong position and continues to grow. The banks have man - aged to meet these challenges without signifi - cant disruptions to their stability and profitability by accumulating significant capital reserves. In 2023, the net profit of the banking sector amounted to PLN27.6 billion, as reported by Statistics Poland ( Główny Urząd Statystyczny ). This was double the profit recorded in 2022, reflecting considerable financial growth within the sector throughout the year. Furthermore, data from the National Bank of Poland ( Narodowy Bank Polski ) shows that from January to August 2024 the sector’s net profit reached PLN28.83 billion, marking a 55.7% year-on-year increase. These results suggest a continued upwards trend in the sector’s profit - ability. Swiss franc loans problem still relevant Before 2008, foreign currency-denominated loans were granted extensively by banks. This solution was advantageous for borrowers as long as the exchange rate of the foreign curren - cy in question was low (mainly the Swiss franc). The sharp increase in this exchange rate in 2008 resulted in a major increase in the amount owed to banks under loan agreements. Many borrow - ers began to claim that the provisions of the loan agreements were unfair, which in time led to massive lawsuits – most of which the banks (at least in Poland) lost.
For the Polish banking sector, the issue of for - eign currency-denominated loans (primarily in Swiss francs) remains significant. According to the Ministry of Justice, there are currently more than 189,000 cases related to such loans pend - ing in courts. Local and ECJ rulings generally resolve claims in favour of consumers, allowing for the annulment of these loan agreements. This implies that the parties involved must return the amounts paid to each other (including loan dis - bursements and instalments with interest). The latest rulings from the ECJ and the Supreme Court of Poland are particularly advantageous for borrowers. The ECJ rulings (including cases C-140/23, C-28/23, C-348/23, and C-424/23), the resolution of the Supreme Court of 25 April 2024 (III CZP 25/22) and of 19 June 2024 (III CZP 31/23) have established that the annulment of a loan agreement cannot be contingent upon a statement made by the borrower. The statute of limitations for a bank’s claim for the return of disbursed capital is three years and should be counted from “the day following the day on which the borrower contested the binding nature of the contract’s provisions with the bank”. This means that, in many cases, banks’ claims may already be time-barred or will become so by the end of 2024. Consequently, banks have begun to take widespread actions to prevent the expi - ration of such claims. In this context, the trend of rulings is not expect - ed to change. Banks are likely to incur further losses related to loans denominated in foreign currency. Fortunately for the stability of the sec - tor, these proceedings have been ongoing for quite some time, allowing them to accumulate the necessary capital to cover the losses and thereby reduce systemic risk.
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