Polish banking landscape is predominantly controlled by foreign capital

The number of banks in Poland with predominant foreign capital rose in the first half of this year from 39% to 48%. Their capital accounted for 76.9% of the capital in banks, which was about 69.5% of all assets in the banking sector. According to the National Bank of Poland (NBP), banks with foreign capital also managed to attract 63.4% of all deposits from non-financial entities in the first half. These banks also extended about 72% of all loans in the same period. The increase of foreign ownership in Polish banks, nevertheless, was not accompanied with a substantial flow of foreign exchange. In terms of investment, American institutions, with zl. 1.1 billion have invested the most followed by Germans with zl. 973.2 million. The Americans control 26.5% of all foreign owned share capital in Polish banks. (Puls Biznesu, page 5)