Editorial Note

How is Poland’s financial-services sector doing right now? This issue of Contact Magazine Online provides a broad overview, offering insights from practitioners and advisors. Four interviews and 19 articles throw light on key topics, with ESG reporting and green finance prominent among them.

Partner at PwC’s strategy team, Michael Wodzicki, presents the big-picture overview of the sector – the strengths and weaknesses of Poland’s banks, prospects for FinTech, trade finance, project finance, and Poland as a location for shared-services centres for the financial sector.

Poland’s strength as a location for high-value-added shared services in the financial sector is exemplified by the Gdynia-based data & analytics hub of the London Stock Exchange Group; its two site co-leads, Maja Blizińska and Michał Rudnicki reveal some best practices from one of the TriCity’s largest private-sector employers.

Ewa Gawrońska-Micuń, member of the management board at Bibby Financial Services, talks about the rising popularity of factoring, and the business philosophy of a family-owned firm that was founded over 200 years ago.

The financial-services sector needs to communicate with consumers, reinforcing brand values. Klara Banaszewska, general manager of Grayling Poland, answers questions about the social shifts brought on by digital channels and social media.

ESG and finance

CMS’s Marcin Krzemień looks at ESG reporting requirements and how they will impact businesses’ access to financing. Banks, insurers, and other financial institutions face immense challenges from the upcoming tsunami of ESG regulations from the EU. Augustyn Wróbel from Osborne Clarke considers the forthcoming rules on sustainable finance, explaining what firms will need to do to obtain green loans in future.

HR and finance

The world of ESG as it encroaches on the financial services will have an effect on recruitment and retention across the sector, observes Michał Opioła from Michael Page. The popularity of the ACCA exam means that just as Polish accountancy professionals have been finding jobs in the UK, so foreign nationals can fill key accountancy and finance jobs in Poland, says Agnieszka Jarosz, head of ACCA Northern and Eastern Europe. Poland has become a top global location for outsourcing corporate financial functions. What is the impact of these investments on the Polish skills market? Does the training and recruitment of financial specialists match the demand for their skills? Wioletta Pietrasiak from AstraZeneca’s Global Finance Service looks at the market. Wojciech Kryński, CEO of Ground Frost, outlines the disruption that robotic process automation, AI and distributed ledger technology will have on accountants and bookkeepers. Katarzyna Jaszczuk from Sysco Polska looks at how financial worries can have a negative effect on the effectiveness of your employees, and how a programme of financial education can remove stress from their lives, helping them to become more productive.

Tax and finance

The Ministry of Finance is carrying out more and more withholding tax audits of foreign-owned companies and imposing ever-greater surcharges on them. Łukasz Kempa and Łukasz Kaza from KR Group explain how companies in the ministry’s cross-hairs can prepare themselves for WHT audits. Poland is underperforming in terms of ease of doing business; it’s ranked seventh in Europe and 12th in the world among the least business-friendly countries, according to a global survey carried out by TMF. Joanna Romańczuk from TMF Group for Central and Eastern Europe has the insights. But things could be getting better, says Bartłomiej Kołodziej from MDDP, pointing to two new initiatives from the Ministry of Finance that will bring greater tax certainty to foreign investors in Poland. And a global minimum tax is on the cards – EU-based entities looking to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions will soon be facing Pillar 2 of the directive aimed at limiting tax-base erosion. Dr Anna Derdak from SDZlegal Schindhelm has the details. And bad news for businesses based in special economic zones (or indeed the Polish Investment Zone): if you’re not making profits, you’re liable for a levy. But there is an answer, says Dr Maria Tsima at Staniek & Partners.

Law and finance

The legal framework for foreign direct investment in Poland introduced in 2020 has been extended to July 2025. Mirosław Fiałek and Mariusz Domagała from MFW Fiałek explain why this matters, what the procedures are, and the penalties for getting it wrong. Adrian Andrychowski from JDP Law considers whether the new group-action litigation regime will disrupt Poland’s banking sector as Swiss franc mortgage holders take on the banks. And the EU regulation of crypto-assets takes shape in the form of the MiCA regulation. Will this be the dawn of a new era in finance, ask Jan Ziomek and Mikołaj Kuterek from Kochański & Partners.

Cross-border trade and investment and finance

Jakub Makurat, Ebury considers how FinTech innovation is helping exporters cut the cost of trade finance and hedge their exposure to FX risks. Tim Tyler from the International Compliance Association considers new areas of compliance that the financial-services sector – and its clients – need to be mindful of in an increasingly uncertain world. And Krzysztof Jasiński and Katarzyna Zarzycka from Gessel present an overview of the current state of the Polish M&A market, and explain how foreign investors can acquire businesses in Poland. Money moves goods across borders – the business needs to be finance.

News

The biggest shake-up to the ranking of audit and advisory firms in recent times has just happened – the global Top Ten welcomes new entrant, Forvis Mazars.