Polish Parliament Votes To Consolidate Three Financial Regulators, Bank BPH Says

Amid a flurry of controversy, Poland's lower house of parliament voted Friday to merge three financial regulators into one entity. The decision will form the Financial Supervision Commission out of the existing Securities and Exchange Commission (KPWiG) and the pension

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Amid a flurry of controversy, Poland’s lower house of parliament voted Friday to merge three financial regulators into one entity.

The decision will form the Financial Supervision Commission out of the existing Securities and Exchange Commission (KPWiG) and the pension and insurance regulator KNUiFE beginning in 2007. KNB, the country’s banking regulator will be added to the new institution in 2008.

The decision received harsh criticism from analysts who say the new regulator will diminish the role played by Poland’s independent central bank in banking supervision.

“It’s a total degradation of the central bank. There is risk the new supervisor will fall victim to political interference,” Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, a deputy from the main opposition Civic Platform party and former central bank president, told Reuters Friday. “This regulator would not be independent. [It’s] a step backward in banking supervision.”

But government officials maintain that the unified regulator will improve market supervision and cut costs.

A number of European Union states currently have unified financial regulators, but most continue to keep their central banks in place over financial oversight.

Following its approval by the lower house, the bill must again be approved by the Senate and be signed into law by President Lech Kaczynski.

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