Republic of Poland

Poland’s financial system is dominated by the banking sector, with significant state participation and foreign ownership. Commercial and cooperative banks play a leading role in financial intermediation, channeling deposits to credit to households and corporates. State-controlled and foreign-owned commercial banks account for about 60 percent of the financial sector (or 83 percent of the banking sector). While interbank and cross-sectoral exposures are relatively limited, the cooperative banks are highly interconnected with their affiliating commercial banks through the affiliating “Apex” network structure.