Poland to launch its own ratings agency next year

Poland will launch its own ratings agency next year. It will be run by the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Polish Development Fund PFR, and credit information bureau BIK. Each will hold 1/3 stake in the agency which is expected to start operations in H2 next year. “The main purpose of the agreement is to build a rating culture in Poland by providing market participants with access to national ratings, economic analyses, and risk assessments in the small and medium business segment. The agency's role is also to increase the importance of the debt market in financing the economy and improve the quality of the Polish capital market by facilitating the valuation of the risk of stock market investors,” the stakeholders said. The agency will focus first on SMEs and once it gets ESMA certification it will start publishing public ratings.