How Brewing Scandal Exposed Pressures on Polish Banks
Here's why a scandal involving a Polish banking tycoon and the country’s financial supervisor has shaken the home, at least until now, of some of Europe’s strongest banks
A scandal involving a Polish banking tycoon and the country’s financial supervisor has shaken the home, at least until now, of some of Europe’s strongest banks. A published transcript appears to show Marek Chrzanowski, head of the Financial Supervisory Commission, soliciting a bribe from Leszek Czarnecki, who controls small lenders Getin Noble Bank SA and Idea Bank SA. The allegations sent bank stocks tumbling and might complicate the ruling party’s pledged clean-up drive, which could include further re-nationalization of lenders.
That’s unclear. The Polish anti-corruption bureau is investigating along with state prosecutors. The transcript of a secretly recorded conversation held in March appears to show Chrzanowski offering favorable treatment to banks controlled by Czarnecki in return for employing a recommended lawyer, who would be paid about $10 million, according to newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. Czarnecki, who recorded the conversation, hasn’t publicly detailed the allegations since Wyborcza released the transcript. But Chrzanowski, a protege of central bank Governor Adam Glapinski, resigned the day the newspaper report came out while rejecting the accusations. Glapinski then complained that Czarnecki, the banking tycoon, was playing "political games" to "destabilize the Polish banking system."