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PM Kopacz becries SKOK burden

PR dla Zagranicy
Jo Harper 28.07.2015 07:35
Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions (SKOK) are a burden on the banking system, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said on Monday.
PAP/Radek Pietruszka

"More than PLN 3 billion (about EUR 700 million) has been paid out to people who have made deposits and put their trust in these institutions," Kopacz told reporters.

The SKOKs have run into financial trouble and been heavily criticised for weak management and poor supervision.

Reportedly almost half of the 55 credit unions are close to bankruptcy, putting a strain on the banking bailout fund.

Credit unions have been a major source of loans for millions of poorer Poles, mainly in rural areas and smaller cities.

The Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) is stepping up investigations into individual credit unions, which account for only 1.1 percent of all banking sector assets.

Some SKOKs are being taken over by banks, and the deposits of others will be paid by the so-called Banking Guarantee Fund.

Last week, the parliamentary public finance committee approved a report by a sub-committee on SKOKs. "I know that the work and recommendations of the parliamentary sub-committee was unambiguous,” Kopacz said.

The committee meeting at which the report was adopted was attended by Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek and head of the KNF Andrzej Jakubiak, who reported that credit unions continue to have negative funds.

"The financial situation of the sector is extremely serious," Szczurek said.

In December 2014 the KNF sought court approval for SKOK Wołomin to be declared bankrupt, which would allow depositors to get their money back through the bank guarantee fund.

SKOK Wolomin has PLN 2.3 billion of deposits covered by the Banking Guarantee Fund. (jh/rk)

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