Author: Ronan Lyons
In May this year Piotr Bykowski, controlling shareholder in Poland's Bank Staropolski, tried to escape from prosecutors by jumping from the second-story window of a Poznan court building, breaking an arm and leg and injuring his spine in the process. His bank collapsed with a capital asset ratio of minus 238%, leaving 150,000 bilked depositors in the lap of the Polish Bank Guarantee Fund.
The remarkable thing was that the debacle caused barely a shudder in the Polish banking system.
For so complete has the carve-up of Poland's banking spoils been by foreign investors that the country's banking system is effectively the preserve of international blue-chip banks.
The bleating of politicians and local business groups about the need to preserve Polish control over the Financial system has fallen on deaf ears. And while analysts may grumble about the dearth of liquidity in Polish bank stocks, nearly all accept that Poland has been the most successful of the transition economies in privatizing its banking system.
Foreign domination
Some 70% of the capital of the banking sector is controlled by foreigners, against 10% to 20% in most western European countries. Direct foreign investment in the sector stands at over $6 billion.