The Polish Financial Supervision Authority exercises supervision of the financial market, including banking supervision, supervision of the capital market, supervision of the insurance market, supervision of the pension market, supplementary supervision of financial conglomerates, supervision of electronic money institutions, payment institutions and payment service bureaus, as well as supervision of cooperative savings and credit unions.
Moreover, the tasks of the KNF shall include the following:
- undertaking measures aimed at ensuring regular operation of the financial market;
- undertaking measures aimed at development of financial market and its competitiveness;
- undertaking educational and information measures related to financial market operation;
- participation in the drafting of legal acts related to financial market supervision;
- creation the opportunities for amicable and conciliatory settlement of disputes which may arise between financial market actors, in particular disputes resulting from contractual relations between entities covered by PFSA supervision and recipients of services provided by those entities;
- carrying out other activities provided for by acts of law.
The aim of the supervision of the financial market is to ensure the proper functioning of this market, its stability, security and transparency, confidence in the financial market, and to ensure that the interests of the market’s participants are protected.
The Authority includes seven Members – the Chairman of the KNF, two Vice-Chairpersons and the representatives of: the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, the President of the National Bank of Poland and the President of the Republic of Poland. The Chairman of the KNF, appointed for a 5-year term of office by the President of the Prime Minister, represents the KNF and is responsible for its management.
At the moment the KNF’s composition is: Andrzej Jakubiak ( the Chairman), Lesław Gajek (a Vice-Chairman), Wojciech Kwaśniak, (a Vice-Chairman) and other members: Piotr Nowak (the Representative of the Minister of Finance), Armen Artwich (the Representative of the Minister of Development), Radosław Domagalski-Łabędzki (the Representative of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy), Jacek Bartkiewicz (the Representative of the National Bank of Poland), Zdzisław Sokal (the Representative of the President of the Republic of Poland).
The KNF adopts resolutions, including decisions and rulings, by a simple majority during its meetings that take place once in two weeks (or more often, depending on market needs) and by mail.
The KNF and its Chairman are assisted in their tasks by the KNF Office. The Chairman of the KNF and two Vice-Chairpersons are responsible for the management of the KNF Office (the other KNF Members are not part of the KNF Office). The employees of the KNF Office are not civil servants. The KNF may authorise its Chairperson, its Vice-Chairpersons and the employees of the KNF Office to take actions within the KNF’s scope of competence (including rulings and administrative decisions).
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority commenced its activities on September 19th 2006, i.e. the date when the Act on Financial Market Supervision of July 21st 2006 (Dz. U. of 2006, No. 157, item 1119, as amended) came into force. The new regulator took over the duties of the Insurance and Pension Funds Supervision Commission and the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission, which were abolished by the said Act. As of January 1st 2008, the PFSA took over the duties of the Commission for Banking Supervision.
