Frankowicze versus banks. Is the Ministry of Finance working on the law?

On the sidelines of the Housing Real Estate Financing Congress, the President of the Polish Bank Association was asked whether work on the bill on bank foreign currency loans is underway.

– I am convinced that in several places such works are underway and they should be disclosed at some point. This is a difficult period, because it is the period of the election campaign. And this is a topic of such fundamental importance that all political forces should be asked to adopt a strategic approach, that yes – there will be intervention in this matter – he replied.

– These talks regarding possible statutory intervention are aimed at defining the rules for making settlements. Because if we assume that each contract is individual – and it is – it would be good if in a situation where it is impossible to determine a reasonable line of jurisprudence, because the courts cannot do it in many cases, and in some cases they do not want to take and cannot do so Supreme Court and the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union – ed.), there remains a situation in which, based on the recommendation of either the KNF (Polish Financial Supervision Authority – ed.) or the entire KSF (Financial Stability Committee – ed.), a fair and acceptable settlement formula should be proposed in the event of such controversies. This would help in the event that the contract is annulled or terminated, and it would also help in concluding settlements, because the situation would be clarified – added Pietraszkiewicz.

According to earlier information from “Puls Biznesu”, work is underway on an act that would oblige banks to present currency conversion proposals to franc holders on the terms set out by the chairman of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. According to the newspaper, if the bank’s client sued the bank and won in court, then he would have to pay 100 percent. tax on the amount by which he became rich.

– Various issues are under consideration. We did not propose such solutions and we would rather look for other solutions so that the client who is moving towards a settlement and has obtained some benefit from it would be exempt from tax – said Pietraszkiewicz.

– I understand that the ideas presented are that the solution would be that the bank would not receive any remuneration for the 10-15-year exploitation of the capital, i.e. someone would get a flat for free. It’s pointless. I understand that someone has considered a solution to make this type of contribution highly taxable. From my point of view, this does not build a certain understanding and peace, he added.

President in early March Andrzej Duda announced that it was waiting for state institutions to present proposals and concepts regarding CHF loans. He added that no work on this topic is currently underway in his office.

In the opinion of the president of the Polish Bank Association, the act could be a supplement to the act on the borrowers’ support fund. – We said from the beginning that it would be enough to make it more flexible to some extent to solve this problem. But it would be possible to combine the concepts proposed by the KNF with the functions that result from the borrowers’ support fund, he said.

According to Pietraszkiewicz, it would make sense to introduce the regulation before the CJEU judgment. – It can be done faster. Postponing doesn’t make it any easier, it only makes it worse. Apart from one CJEU ruling, which we expect, there are several cases pending before the Court of Justice, he assessed.

– As announced by the spokesman, the CJEU does not deal with the issue of settlements and leaves it to the national authorities. Any ruling of the CJEU will not define the settlement case, so it seems that such an intervention would make sense, he added.

In the opinion of the president of the Polish Bank Association, it is difficult to predict when such solutions could be introduced. – Processes before the CJEU will continue and not all cases will still be defined. But it can be said that so far there are several issues that are clarified – before the CJEU and Polish courts, which allow us to propose a reasonable solution. These decisions are not about leading to bankruptcy, conflicting – on the contrary – finding formulas in which both parties can come to an agreement, because the situation that occurred was not the fault of one of the partners in a specific point – he said.

“There are currently no legislative works in the Ministry of Finance in the scope indicated in the questions” – this is how the ministry responded to TVN24 Biznes’s inquiry about the work on the draft law on loans in francs.

According to the Ministry of Finance, “the judgment of the CJEU is expected in a few months, most likely in autumn.” The ministry stressed that “its impact on the sector may be very significant, although the provisions established for a long time and the settlements concluded by banks show that the sector has been preparing for various scenarios for a long time”.

“The situation of the so-called CHF loans is also monitored and discussed within the Financial Stability Committee, which – apart from the Ministry of Finance – also includes the National Bank of Poland, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the Bank Guarantee Fund. The members of the Committee recognize the legal risk associated with the FX housing loan portfolio as the main risk to the stability of the domestic banking sector. The costs of this risk will remain high in the coming years, however, they should not pose a systemic threat,” the ministry said.

In mid-February, the Advocate General of the CJEU issued an opinion on the right of banks to remuneration for capital after the cancellation of the CHF loan agreement, which was negative for the banking sector. It was assessed that the pro-consumer decision of the CJEU may result in Swiss franc borrowers, who have been hesitant to make such a move, decide to sue banks.

The Ombudsman’s opinion is not a final decision. The CJEU judgment in this case may be issued in a few months at the earliest.