Foreign lenders: Poland's FX mortgage bill harms Polish and EU law

Polish lenders' foreign owners said a bill on the conversion of foreign exchange-denominated mortgages into PLN would be harmful for their businesses as well as the entire banking and pose a threat to the investment stability of the sector, Reuters reported. German Commerzbank is considering taking legal steps. Commerzbank which controls mBank said that passing the bill will infringe the Polish constitution and the EU law. In a letter sent to the Polish authorities, the lender wrote that the bill will have "very negative" consequences for mBank and the entire Polish banking system. Deutsche Bank shares the same opinion, Reuters also informed. As a consequence, some Polish lenders' foreign owners, including Commerzbank are planning to seek compensation for any losses caused by the bill on Swiss franc-denominated mortgages. Sejm passed a draft law this month, according to which, the franc-denominated mortgage loans would be converted to PLN with the exchange rate of the CHF recorded on the day of the conversion. Banks will take on 90 percent of the costs of such conversions. The bill will now be voted on by the Senate and return to the lower house.