EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 1 September 2008 
at the request of the Polish Minister for Finance  
on a draft law on the Financial Stability Committee 
(CON/2008/39) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 10 July 2008 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Polish Minister for 
Finance for an opinion on a draft law on the Financial Stability Committee (hereinafter the ‘draft law’).  
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community and the third and sixth indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 
29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Ce ntral Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) and to rules applicable to 
financial institutions insofar as they materially influe nce 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, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.  
 1.  Purpose of the draft law 1.1 The draft law will establish the Financial Stability  Committee (hereinafter the ‘Committee’) in the 
following composition: (i) the Minister for Finance (as Chairman); (ii) the NBP President; and (iii) the Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC)
2. The Committee is to pursue 
the objective defined in the draft law as ‘fosteri ng and protection of the stability of the national 
financial system through the exchange of informa tion, opinions and assessments of the situation in 
the financial system in the country and abroad and the coordination of activities in this area’3. 
Acting unanimously, the Committee may adopt ‘positions’ and ‘conclusions’4. The Committee may 
also establish working groups, composed of staff from the Ministry of Finance, NBP and the FSC 
(hereinafter the ‘three represented institutions’) as well as invited external experts5. The Committee 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 All members are required to participate in person in meeti ngs of the Committee, with the possibility to indicate an 
alternate in the event that participation in person is impossibl e. Any member may also invite  other persons to participate 
in the meetings, in an advisory capacity (see Articles 3-4 of  the draft law). The draft law will supersede as the legal basis 
for the establishment of the Committ ee the Memorandum of Understanding of 21 December 2007, in which the 
abovementioned parties agreed on the establishment of the Financial Stability Committee (see press releases of 27 
December 2007 and 8 February 2008, as published on the NBP website, www.nbp.pl). 
3 See Article 1(2) of the draft law. 
4 See Article 6 of the draft law. ‘Conclusions’ are not formal administrative decisions.  
5 See Article 7 of the draft law. 
2 meetings are convened by the Minister for Finance, at least once every 6 months, and are prepared 
by Ministry of Finance staff6. 
1.2 Specifically, the Comm ittee’s tasks will include:  
(i) Analytical activity , i.e. producing assessments of the situation in the national financial 
system and on international markets, and ensu ring a proper flow of information between 
members of the Committee regardi ng major events and trends wh ich could constitute a threat 
to the stability of the national financial system7;  
(ii) Development of crisis management procedures  to be applied in the event of a threat to the 
stability of the national financial system. Afte r adoption, the crisis management procedures 
are submitted by the Committee to the three represented institutions for implementation8;  
(iii) Crisis management coordination in situations where an immediate threat to the stability of 
the national financial system materialises. In such cases, the FSC Chairman submits to the 
Committee an opinion on the solvency of the th reatened entities, the NBP President submits 
an opinion on the liquidity of the banking sect or and the Minister for Finance submits an 
opinion on the possibility of support for th e threatened entities from public funds. 
Furthermore, the NBP President and the FSC Chairman submit opinions on the systemic significance of the threatened entities
9; and 
(iv) International cooperation , as the draft law provides that the members of the Committee may, 
for the purpose of strengthening international cooperation in support of financial stability, 
conclude agreements with institu tions carrying out tasks in this area in the memb er states of 
the European Economic Area and in particular with the ECB, national central banks within 
the European System of Central Banks (ES CB), the relevant ministries and supervisory 
agencies10.  
 2. Central bank participation in the Financial Stability Committee 
2.1 Central bank independence 
In one of its previous opinions
11, the ECB advocated the creation of the Committee and NBP’s 
participation in it as one possible measure to ensure  that NBP can continue to provide the necessary 
contribution to financial stability, following the implementation of the supervisory reform in 
Poland transferring the banking supervision res ponsibilities from NBP to a newly-created separate 
                                                 
6 See Article 5 of the draft law. 
7 See Article 2(1)(1) of the draft law. 
8 See Article 2(1)(2) and Article 2(2) of the draft law. 
9 See Article 2(1)(3) and Article 2(3)-(4) of the draft law. 
10 Such agreements must describe the princi ples of cooperation, the extent of the ex change of information and the principles 
for the protection of such information. See Article 10 of the draft law. 
11 See paragraphs 3.1.2 and 3.4 of ECB Opinion CON/2006/15 of  9 March 2006 at the request of the Polish Minister of 
Finance on a draft law on the supervision of financial in stitutions; cf. paragraph 7 of ECB Opinion CON/2001/10 of 
25 May 2001 at the request of the Austrian Ministry of Fina nce on a draft Article of the Federal law establishing and 
organising the financial market superv isory authority [title shortened]. 
3 authority (the current FSC). Therefore the ECB welcomes the establishment of the Committee, as it 
responds to the need to take coordinated action in fi nancial crisis situations. However, in line with 
another of its previous opinions, the ECB reco mmends that: (i) the tasks attributed to the 
Committee must not compromise NBP’s independence with regard to its central bank tasks; and 
(ii) the legal framework of the Committee should be precisely formulated to ensure that the 
effectiveness of the coordination process is not aff ected by possible uncertainties regarding the role 
of the Committee and its participating bodies12. The ECB recommends that such principles are 
followed, inter alia , in internal regulations of the Committee, to be adopted under the draft law13. 
2.2 Financial stability role of the central bank 
The ECB acknowledges that under the draft law, ce rtain specific responsibilities in the field of 
financial stability will be assigned to NBP. In  particular, the draft law amends the Law on 
Narodowy Bank Polski14 by including among NBP’s tasks the ‘task in support of the stability of the 
national financial system referred to in Article 1(4) of the [draft la w]’, i.e. preparation of opinions 
addressed to the Committee on the systemic significance of the threatened entities15. Additionally, 
it will become one of the tasks of NBP’s Manageme nt Board to produce anal yses of the stability of 
the financial system16. Moreover, NBP will be empowered to request credit institutions to provide 
information relevant to the assessment of the banking system’s financial stability17, in addition to 
the current obligation of credit institutions to repo rt on data relevant to the assessment of their 
financial condition and the banking sector risk18. Such new powers are welcomed as they would 
facilitate NBP’s effective performance of its financial stability role. However, all the 
abovementioned amendments fall short of introduc ing an explicit financial stability function for 
NBP, encompassing the broad range of central  bank contributions to  financial stability19. Therefore, 
the ECB reiterates its previous recommendation20 that the Law on NBP should be amended to 
specify that NBP has formal responsibility for cont ributing to financial stability by monitoring and 
assessing the financial system as a whole, as a separate function from ha nds-on supervision and 
financial regulation.  
 
                                                 
12  See paragraph 3.1 of the ECB Opinion CON/2007/31 of 9 Octobe r 2007 at the request of the Polish Minister for Finance 
on a draft law amending the Law on the supervision of financial markets; cf. paragraph 11 of ECB Opinion 
CON/2002/13 of 24 April 2002 at the request of the Belgian Ministry of Finance on a draft proposal for a law on 
prudential supervision of the financ ial sector and fi nancial services. 
13 See Article 8 of the draft law. 
14 Law on Narodowy Bank Polski of 29 August 1997 (consolidated text: Dz.U. of 1 April 2005 No 1, item 2, as amended; 
hereinafter, the ‘Law on NBP’). 
15 See point 6a inserted in Article 3(2) of the Law on NBP by Article 13(1) of the draft law.  
16 See point 5a inserted in Article 17(4) of th e Law on NBP by Article 13(2) of the draft law. 
17 Details of such reporting obligations are to be further sp ecified by NBP. See Article 23(3) of the Law on NBP, as 
amended by Article 13(4)(a) of the draft law. 
18 See the current wording of Article 23(3) of the Law on NBP. 
19 See the ECB’s Financial Stabilit y Review, December 2004, p. 7.  
20 See paragraph 2.2 of ECB Opinion CON/2006/15 and paragraph 3.1 of ECB Op inion CON/2007/31; see also paragraph 
4.2 of Opinion CON/2006/39 of 2 August 2006 at the request  of Poland’s Sejm Marshall on a draft law amending the 
Law on Narodowy Bank Polski and paragr aph 3.3 of ECB Opinion CON/2008/32 of 23 July 2008 at the request of the 
Polish Minister for Finance on a draft law am ending the Law on the Bank Guarantee Fund.  
4 3. Rules on exchange of information  
3.1  The draft law provides that all persons participa ting in Committee meetings, or in working groups 
established by the Committee, may exchange info rmation necessary for the proper functioning of 
the Committee, while being obliged to keep such information confidential21. The Committee may 
also publish public statements on its work, includi ng as regards its ‘findings’. Committee members’ 
legal liability for information pub lished in this way is excluded22. Furthermore, the draft law 
provisions amending the Law on NBP define mo re precisely the exclusions from NBP’s 
confidentiality obligations, as contained, inter alia , in the Law on NBP and the Law on banking23. 
In particular, NBP will be entitled to provide the Minister for Finance and the FSC with 
information obtained from individual credit instituti ons, as relevant to the work of the Committee24. 
Reciprocally, the FSC Chairman will be entitled to provide information to NBP and the Minister for Finance
25.  
3.2  The ECB welcomes the aim of ensuring effective exchange of information between members of the 
Committee with a view to allowi ng the Committee to be an efficient means of communication and 
coordination while respecting each institution’s respons ibility. Furthermore, in line with its earlier 
opinion26, the ECB notes that provisions relating to information-sharing within the Committee 
should be: (i) consistent with Co mmunity law regulating the exchange  of supervisory and statistical 
information and professional secrecy27, as well as with the Law on NBP; and (ii) capable of 
facilitating the operation of relevant EU Memo randa of Understanding to which the Polish 
authorities are signatories28. The ECB considers in particular that, as part of the proposed 
amendments relating to exchange of information,  appropriate procedures and amendments to the 
Law on the NBP should be considered ensuring that correctness and accuracy of information submitted by individual credit institutions could be  verified by NBP. This would allow NBP to 
exercise its powers in the field of financial stab ility effectively and safeguard the high quality of 
                                                 
21 Such confidentiality obligations are protected by criminal sanctions. See Article 9(1) of the draft law. 
22 See Articles 11-12 of the draft law. 
23 Law on banking of 29 August 1997 (consolidated text: Dz .U. of 12 June 2002 No 72,  item 665, as amended). 
24 See paragraphs 8-9 added to Article 23 of the Law on NBP by Article 13(4)(d) of the draft law.  
25 See Article 17a of the Law on supervision of financia l market (Dz.U. of 4 Sept ember 2006 No 157, item 1119, as 
amended, hereinafter, the ‘Law on supe rvision of financial market’), as inserted by Article 14 of the draft law.  
26 See paragraph 3.2 of ECB Opinion CON/2007/31.  
27 In particular, Articles 44 - 52 of Direc tive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 
relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions (recast) (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 177, 
30.6.2006, p. 1 (hereinafter, the ‘Banking Directive’). Di rective as last amended by Directive 2008/24/EC of the 
European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 81, 20.3.2008, p. 38); Article 13 of Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 
17 February 1997 on Community Statistics  (OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) 
No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and the Council (O J L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1); Article 8 of Council Regulation 
(EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concer ning the collection of stat istical information by the European Central Bank 
(OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8); and Article 3 of Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the 
transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to  the Statistical Office of the European Communities (OJ L 151, 
15.6.1990, p. 1). Regulation as last am ended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1); Guideline ECB/1998/ NP28 of 22 December 1998 concerning the common rules 
and minimum standards to protect the confidentiality of the i ndividual statistical informati on collected by the European 
Central Bank assisted by the national central banks (OJ L 55, 24.2.2001, p. 72). 
28 In particular, the ‘Memora ndum of understanding on cooperation between th e financial supervisor y authorities, central 
banks and finance ministries of the European Union on cro ss-border financial stability’ of 1 June 2008, as published on 
the ECB website, www.ecb.europa.eu (the ‘June 2008 MoU’). 
5 information exchanged within the Committee29. In this respect the ECB also points to the published 
draft amendments to the Banking Directive, whic h may result in the introduction of an obligation 
for the supervisory authorities of the Member States  to alert the relevant national central banks of 
arising crisis situations and to prov ide them with relevant information30. 
3.3 The ECB notes that the draft law stipulates e xplicitly that information exchanged within the 
Committee may be disclosed to members of the FSC who are not represented on the Committee31. 
Should this provision be maintained in the draf t law, equivalent access rights will need to be 
safeguarded for members of NBP’s governing bod ies and staff who perform financial stability 
tasks but do not directly participate in the work of the Committee.  
3.4 Finally, the ECB notes that separate amendmen ts to the Law on NBP will allow NBP to disclose 
data collected from individual credit institutions, inter alia , to: (i) the ECB, in connection with 
NBP’s obligations stemming from its participat ion in the ESCB; (ii) foreign entities, in 
performance of Poland’s international obligations; (i ii) the Minister for Fina nce, for the purposes of 
management of the public debt; and (iv) othe r entities, as specified in separate provisions32. As 
stated in paragraph 3.2 of this opinion, the ECB would underline the fact that Community law provisions not only apply to NBP’s provision of in formation to the ECB but also to other listed 
instances of exchange of supervisory and statistical  information. It could be advisable to define 
such other allowed instances of information discl osure by NBP more precisely in the draft law 
including a reference to compliance wi th Community law in this respect.  
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 1 September 2008. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
                                                 
29 See paragraphs 5.1, 5.2 and 5.7 of th e June 2008 MoU, together with Paragr aph 1(5) of Annex 1 (Common Practical 
Guidelines) to the June 2008 MoU as well as Annex B (Cont ent of the common database) to the Voluntary Specific 
Cooperation Agreement attached  to the June 2008 MoU. 
30 See amendments to Ar ticles 49 and 130 of the Banking Directive,  as proposed in the Commission’s consultation 
document ‘Public consultation on possible changes to the Capi tal Requirements Directive (CRD , consisting of Directives 
2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC’ of 30 June 2008  
 (available at http://ec.europa.eu/internal_m arket/bank/docs/regcapital/consultation_en.pdf). 
31 I.e. the members of the FSC appointed by the President of the Republic, the Minister for Finance, the Minister 
responsible for the state pension system and the NBP President (see Article 7 of the draft law and Article 5(2) of the Law 
of 21 July 2006 on supervision of financial market). 
32 See Article 23(7) of the Law on NBP, as am ended by Article 13(4)(c) of the draft law.