According to Polish daily ‘Parkiet’, tommorow, the antimonopoly office may fine some 20 Polish banks and financial institutions a total of up to PLN 200m, due to excessive commissions charged on debit card operations. According to the POHiD, debit card commissions in large commercial networks in Poland are among the highest in the world at 1.8% versus 0.4% in France and 0.2% in the UK.
Our view: There was no information on which banks will be worst hit and so, for now, we assume that the impact (perhaps some 2-3% of net profit) will be proportional. Though this is a one-off item split among a large number of companies, the news of the fine may be expected to have a negative trading impact on the sector, due to concerns that further regulatory actions could follow, with regard to other segments (ie. mutual funds).