Poland : Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC), Corporate Governance Country Assessment

Abstract

This report assesses Poland's corporate governance policy framework, and its enforcement and compliance practices. It highlights recent improvements in corporate governance regulation, makes policy recommendations, and provides investors with a benchmark against which to measure corporate governance in Poland. The report updates the corporate governance ROSC carried out in 2001. Since the previous assessment, Poland has adopted new legislation, effectively promulgated a corporate governance code, and continued to develop strong regulatory and enforcement institutions. These improvements have resulted in a corporate governance framework that complies with many of the OECD Principles. The report identifies several potential problems and remedies, including: 1) insufficient regulation of the corporate governance activities of the pension funds; 2) weakness of the supervisory board; 3) problems in the delisting / squeeze-out process; and 4) insufficient approvals of related party transactions. This report also includes two detailed analyses of special policy topics: Annex 1 is an analysis of the Warsaw Stock Exchange Best Practices Code and options for compliance, and Annex 2 is an assessment of the corporate governance issues of state owned enterprises.