Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan of the Financial Services Commission met with Jacek Jastrzebski, Chair of the Board of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) at his office in Seoul Government Complex on November 13 where the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on banking supervision. This marks the first such visit to Korea by Chair of the Board of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).
Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1989, Korean companies have continued to expand their business presence in Poland. As of 2023, the number of Korean companies operating in Poland reached about 370 with the volume of investment standing at about KRW6 billion in cumulative terms and that of annual trade reaching about KRW9 billion. However, there still exist no Korean financial companies operating in Poland. As the financing needs and demand from Korean companies have been growing in local market, there has been growing interest among Korean financial companies to expand their presence in the Polish market.
Following the previously held summit meetings between Korea and Poland (in July 2023 and October 2024), bilateral cooperation has been strengthened in the areas of defense industry, nuclear power, infrastructure, and advanced technologies, and it is highly anticipated that mutual exchange in economic and financial sectors will also accelerate. Against this backdrop, the visit by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) along with the Polish banking sector delegation lays a foundation to boost bilateral exchange of banking businesses.
Korea-Poland MOU on banking supervision
At the meeting with Chair Jacek Jastrzebski of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), FSC Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan showed strong commitment to boost cooperation going forward and talked about the significance of the progress made this year in enhancing financial cooperation between the two countries with the shuttle meetings held between chief financial authorities of the two countries and the signing of an MOU on banking supervision. To help facilitate financing operations of Korean companies doing business in Poland, Chairman Kim asked for support from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) regarding the entry of Korean banks into the Polish banking industry.
The MOU on banking supervision signed between the FSC and the FSS of Korea and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) is expected to facilitate overseas expansion of Korean banks’ corporate loan operations to Poland and other EU member countries in the surrounding region, such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. At the meeting, the two sides also exchanged views on the process of financial supervision in each country, key issues and risk factors in the banking industry, and cooperation over cybersecurity issues. Since the FSC and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) both oversee supervisory functions across all financial sectors, both sides shared the same view on the potential of expanding bilateral cooperation beyond the banking sector into the capital market and insurance sectors.
Korea-Poland banking industry networking and seminar promoting financial exchange
In the afternoon of November 13, the Korea-Poland banking industry’s networking session and a seminar on promoting financial exchange were held attended by the chief financial authorities and the heads of banking associations of the two countries. The venue provided opportunities to bolster banking sector partnerships between the two countries as it offered networking sessions for both high-level authorities and working-level officials.
* Please refer to the attached PDF for details.