EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 19 November 2012 
on a stabilisation fund for banks 
(CON/2012/91) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 23 October 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB)  received a request from the Polish Minister for 
Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on the Bank Guarantee Fund and certain other laws (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the third and sixth indents of Article 2(1) of Council 
Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consulta tion of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions
1, as the draft law relates to the Narodowy Bank Polski 
and to rules applicable to financial institutions in sofar as they materially influence the stability of 
financial institutions and markets. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of 
Procedure of the European Central Bank, th e Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft law 
1.1 The draft law is an updated version of a draft law on which the ECB has previously been consulted
2 
(hereinafter the ‘earlier draft law’). The overall purpose of the draft law remains unchanged, that is 
to enhance the Polish framework for crisis manage ment in the financial sector by establishing an 
industry-funded stabilisation fund for credit in stitutions, formed as a sub-fund under the 
management of the Bank Guarantee Fund (BFG),  the operator of the Polish deposit guarantee 
scheme. To that end, the draft law amends: (a) the Law of 14 December 1994 on the Bank 
Guarantee Fund3 (hereinafter the ‘Law on BFG’); and (b) the Law of 12 February 2010 on the 
recapitalisation of certain financial institutions4 (hereinafter ‘the Law on recapitalisation’). 
1.2 As compared to the earlier draft law, the dr aft law redefines the sources of financing of the 
stabilisation fund to include, in addition to a one-off payment to be made in the year of the law’s 
entry into force, a prudential fee to be paid on an annual basis by the institutions covered by the 
obligatory deposit guarantee scheme. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 See the draft law amending the Law on Bank Guarantee Fund and certain othe r laws, version dated 30 May 2012, as 
opined on in Opinion CON/2012/58. All ECB opinions ar e published on the ECB's website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
3 Consolidated text published in Dziennik Ustaw  (Dz. U.) of 2009 No 84, item 711.  
4 Dz. U. of 2010 No 40, item 226. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 1.3 The earlier draft law allowed the transfer of resources from the newly established stabilisation fund 
to the existing assistance fund, both managed by th e BFG. This is supplemented in the draft law, 
which allows temporary transfers from the assistance fund to the stabilisation fund, subject to the 
approval of the Minister for Finance5. At the same time, the draft law lays down appropriate 
safeguards to ensure that, following such a transf er, sufficient funds are made available to the 
assistance fund by the Minister for Finance for th e pay-out of guaranteed deposits, if necessary6. 
 
2.  General observations The ECB’s observations are in principle limited to th e relevant provisions of the draft law which have 
been changed as compared with the earlier draft law. 
 3.  Specific observations 
 Financing of the stabilisation fund  
3.1  The ECB welcomes the introduction of an inde pendent financing mechan ism for the stabilisation 
fund in the form of a self-standing annual prudential fee as it will enhance the clarity and 
transparency of the system. It will also allow mo re flexibility in setting the appropriate level of 
industry participation in the costs of providing su pport to distressed financ ial institutions and in 
adjusting it to the changing market conditions to achieve the expected anti-cyclical effect of the 
new prudential fee
7. 
3.2 The proposed arrangements, allowing the temporary transfer of resources from the assistance fund 
to the stabilisation fund, will further increase flexib ility in the application of the measures available 
under the Law on BFG and the Law on recapitalisation.  In this respect, the ECB notes the need to 
ensure that the financial resources of funds u sed for the resolution or stabilisation of credit 
institutions are adequate and that the contributions  to such funds raised from credit institutions are 
set at a level which is appropriately calibrated to ensure financial stability. 
 
This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 19 November 2012. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Mario DRAGHI 
                                                 
5  See proposed Articles 20c(2) and 20c(3) of the Law on BF G as inserted by Article 1(10) of the draft law. 
6  See proposed Article 16b of the Law on BFG as inserted by Article 1(8) of the draft law. 
7 See the explanatory memorandum  to the draft law, p. 11.