The Polish Financial Supervision Commission (KNF) has published the National Working Group Steering Committee’s updated roadmap for Poland’s benchmark reform, confirming the Polish Short-Term Rate (POLSTR) as the benchmark intended to replace WIBOR and WIBID. The revised plan reflects a review of risk-free rate alternatives finalised in December 2024 and positions POLSTR, a proposed index based on unsecured overnight deposits by credit institutions and financial institutions, as the end-state benchmark under the EU Benchmarks Regulation. Key 2025 milestones include adopting the full Benchmarks Regulation documentation for POLSTR and starting publication of the index, with GPW Benchmark S.A. scheduling publication for the second quarter of 2025 to enable market use. Parallel work will update the National Working Group’s analytical documents and recommendations, including interest rate conventions for banking products, debt instruments and derivatives, covering both new and already concluded contracts, while financial institutions prepare IT, operational and legal changes. Market take-up is expected to be supported by the first issuance of POLSTR-referenced PLN Treasury bonds planned for December 2025, ahead of broader product roll-outs in the first half of 2026, including mortgages and other loans priced using compounded POLSTR. In 2026, the roadmap anticipates POLSTR-based issuance of bank, corporate and municipal bonds and increased use of overnight index swap (OIS) derivatives as liquidity develops to support a term structure for POLSTR, alongside a shift from bilateral to centrally cleared OIS transactions as clearing houses (including KDPW_CCP and LCH) become operationally and regulatorily ready. Conditions for a regulatory event under Article 23c(1) of the Benchmarks Regulation will be assessed in 2026 and, if met, would trigger a statutory process leading to a Minister of Finance regulation specifying the WIBOR replacement, an adjustment spread and an application date, following a vacatio legis period, for relevant contracts and instruments that have not been contractually converted.
Polish Financial Supervision Commission (KNF) 2025-04-09
Polish Financial Supervision Commission publishes updated roadmap to replace WIBOR and WIBID with POLSTR by end-December 2027
The Polish Financial Supervision Commission (KNF) confirmed the Polish Short-Term Rate (POLSTR) as the benchmark to replace WIBOR and WIBID, with publication set for Q2 2025. The roadmap includes adopting full Benchmarks Regulation documentation for POLSTR and preparing for POLSTR-referenced PLN Treasury bonds by December 2025. In 2026, the plan anticipates increased issuance of POLSTR-based bonds and derivatives, with a potential regulatory event under Article 23c(1) of the Benchmarks Regulation to formalize the transition.