KNF asks three banks to not pay out dividend for 2016

Poland's financial market supervisor KNF asked BZ WBK, BGŻ BNP Paribas and PKO BP to refrain from paying out the dividend for 2016. BZ WBK had met the initial criteria allowing for a 50 percent payout ratio, but the KNF applied additional criteria to account for the lender's FX-denominated mortgage book. BGZ BNP Paribas will not pay out the dividend based on a similar criteria to cover the risk stemming from its FX mortgage portfolio. Furthermore, KNF asked PKO BP to retain its entire 2016 profit in order to boost its capital base, the bank said in a market filing.