BIC lacking in brio

The commission was established nearly a month ago with the aim of investigating irregularities in the banking sector since 1989. The topics the members of the commission would like to see top of the agenda include: privatization and acquisition decisions in the banking sector; the effects of the central bank's decisions; and the activities of other offices, such as the Banking Supervision Commission.

However, members appear to be pulling in different directions when it comes to the commission's remit. The head of the organization, Law and Justice's (PiS) Artur Zawisza, would like to investigate the causes for concentration in the banking sector, the pricing of banking services, and whether foreign banks are investing in Poland or repatriating the profits they earn here.

"The commission has a skeleton in its closet. It's the malfunctioning banking system. We have to figure out how this crime was committed," Zawisza announced.

Marek Sawicki from the Peasants' Party would like to learn why in 1996 a bill forbidding the sale of more than 30 percent of the sector to foreign investors was abolished. Even the verbose official name of the commission appears unclear to its members.

The commission has raised many controversies since its creation. PiS has four votes in the 10-man body, while Civic Platform (PO) received two seats. The remaining parties have one representative each. Many consider the commission to be a tool to attack outgoing central bank president Leszek Balcerowicz. He is for many the personification of Poland's difficult economic transformation, and heavily criticized the government over its handling of the recent PKO-BPH merger.