The background of regulating non-bank loan institutions in Poland

Abstract

Non-bank loan institutions in Poland often face a bad reputation or a lack of trust, are compared to "parabanks" and frequently recognised as companies operating at the borders of the law. Despite their membership in the financial sector, until recently, public supervision had little control over loan companies and had little knowledge about the scale of their operations. The greater restrictiveness of the new regulations caused a slowdown in the development of loan companies. Changes such as the introduction of bank levy and the amendment to the Consumer Credit Act of 2016 had a signifiant impact on the financial results and the structure of products offered by loan companies. Along with the new regulations, however, there is doubt regarding whether these changes, which are intended to organise the market for non-bank loans, will actually lead to an exodus of loan institutions from the market and to significant limitation and financial exclusion on the part of Polish consumers.