The Polish financial market regulator – KNF – expects banks and insurers to retain entire profits from prior years amid the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, KNF head Jacek Jastrzebski said.
„Due to the current situation related to the epidemic and possible further negative economic consequences of this state, we expect banks and insurers to retain the entire profit generated in previous years, regardless of the actions already taken in this respect,” Jastrzebski wrote.
Banks and insurers „are expected not to take any other actions, without consulting them with the regulator, in particular [actions] exceeding the scope of current business operations which could result in weakening of the capital base,” he wrote. „Strengthening of the capital base via profit retention is, according to the regulator, necessary to increase possible effective involvement of banks and insurers’ reaction to current and future threats and to safely continue basic operations.”