On 31 January, Bank Ochrony Środowiska launched a Settlement Program for its customers with unpaid mortgage loans taken in foreign currencies. The program is implemented under the rules proposed by the Chairman of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Thus, foreign currency loans are converted as if they had been taken in zlotys from the beginning.
Clients who are interested in concluding a settlement agreement should apply for mediation. The mediation will be carried out with the participation of a mediator from the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. The procedure of the Settlement Program is simplified. The application for concluding a settlement agreement can be signed in any bank branch, and the whole mediation process is remote. Mediation is free of charge; moreover, the commencement of mediation is not the same as the requirement of signing a settlement agreement.
The Settlement Program is addressed to individual clients who have taken out a foreign currency mortgage loan in CHF, EUR or USD for their own housing purposes and are still repaying it. The foreign currency loan, once converted into a PLN loan, will be accounted for as if it had been taken out in PLN. However, other loan parameters will be preserved: loan term and repayment form.
