Activities of the National Working Group for benchmark reform

The National Working Group for benchmark reform (NWG) was appointed in connection with the planned reform of benchmarks in Poland, involving, among others, the introduction of a new interest rate benchmark, with input data being information representing overnight (ON) transactions. The NWG aims to ensure the credibility, transparency and reliability of the process of determining and applying the new interest rate benchmark.

The group’s activities involve participation of representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of Poland, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the Bank Guarantee Fund, the Polish Development Fund Group, the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the National Depository for Securities, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, GPW Benchmark, leading commercial banks, banks affiliating cooperative banks, investment fund management companies, insurance undertakings, and professional associations of financial market entities. 

The NWG’s activities are monitored and coordinated by the Steering Committee composed of:

• Tadeusz Białek – President of the Polish Bank Association – Chair of the NWG Steering Committee  
• Aleksandra Bluj – Vice-President of the Management Board of GPW Benchmark – Deputy Chair of the Steering Committee of the NWG 
• Artur Soboń – Member of the Management Board of the National Bank of Poland – Member of the Steering Committee of the NWG 
• Jurand Drop – Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Finance – Member of the Steering Committee of the NWG
• Marcin Mikołajczyk – Deputy Chair of the KNF Board – Member of the Steering Committee of the NWG 
• Grzegorz Owczarek – Director of the Resolution Planning Department, Bank Guarantee Fund – Member of the Steering Committee of the NWG
• Joanna Wróbel – President of the Management Board of BondSpot SA – Member of the Steering Committee of the NWG 
• Representative of the banking sector – appointed in rotation every three months

Information from the work of the National Working Group

• Update of the Roadmap for the Reform of Interest Rate Benchmarks in Poland
• The cessation of WIBID and WIBOR Reference Rates  and further steps in the benchmark reform
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group on Benchmark Reform adopted the Recommendation on determining interest rates for new agreements and replacing the WIBOR
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group on benchmark reform adopted a recommendation on the application of a replacement rate for the WIBOR reference rate in debt securities
• The National Working Group on Benchmark Reform invites to review the draft recommendation on the application of the replacement rate for the WIBOR reference index in floating rate debt securities
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group on Benchmark Reform adopted the Recommendation for the legacy portfolio in PLN for business clients
• Public consultation on the National Working Group project recommendation on he principles and methods for replacing WIBOR/WIBID reference rates (business client)
• The Steering Committee of the NGR has adopted a recommendation regarding the conversion of WIBOR interest rate derivatives to the POLSTR benchmark. 
• First Issuance of Treasury Bonds Linked to the POLSTR Benchmark
• KS NGR Announcement dated 7 November 2025 regarding the discontinuation of the calculation of WIBID® and WIBOR® Reference Rates for selected Fixing Terms by GPW Benchmark SA
• Public consultation on the National Working Group project recommendation on applying a fallback rate for the WIBOR benchmark in interest rate derivatives
• Publication of the Recommendation on Standards for the Use of the POLSTR® Rate in Bonds
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group approved a recommendation for new banking, leasing and factoring products based on POLSTR®
• The Steering Committee of the NGR for benchmark reform in Poland informs that POLSTR® Interest Rate Index has been applied for the first time
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group adopted recommendation on standard OIS transactions based on POLSTR
• Public consultation on the National Working Group regarding the principles and methods of using the POLSTR reference index (or benchmark indices from the POLSTR Compound Indices Family) in floating-rate debt securities issuances
• Public consultation on the National Working Group recommendations regarding the principles and methods of using the POLSTR reference Index in the execution of new contracts for banking products, leasing, and factoring
• Public consultation of the National Working Group recommendation on standard OIS transactions based on POLSTR
• Start of determination of POLSTR Interest Rate Index and indices from the POLSTR Compound Indices Family by GPW Benchmark SA
• Updated Roadmap for the process of cessation of WIBID and WIBOR reference benchmarks development and implementation of POLSTR index
• Steering Committee of the National Working Group accepted an updated Roadmap for replacing WIBOR and WIBID benchmarks
• Steering Committee of the National Working Group has selected name POLSTR for a proposed index currently marked with technical name WIRF–
• Steering Committee of the National Working Group has selected a proposed index from the WIRF group as the ultimate interest rate benchmark to replace the WIBOR benchmark
• Completion of the collection of opinions as part of the additional round of public consultations on indices alternative to WIBOR
• Information on the launch of the additional round of public consultations on the review and assessment of alternative interest rate indices
• Additional round of consultations - "Consultation Paper on the Review and Assessment of Alternative Interest Rate Indices"
• Public consultation on the NWG’s consultation paper on the review and analysis of alternative interest rate indices
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group for benchmark reform has adopted a paper on Methods of applying the RFR and selected rules for calculating compound rates.
• Steering Committee of the NWG decided to commence a review and analysis of risk-free-rate (RFR) replacement choices for WIBOR benchmark
• Communication from the NWG Steering Committee on changes in the expected Roadmap for benchmark reform
• The NWG Steering Committee has adopted a Recommendation on the rules and methods of conversion of WIBOR-based debt instruments
• Summary of the conclusions from the public consultation on Recommendation on the rules and methods of conversion of WIBOR-based debt instruments
• Public consultation on the NWG’s recommendation on the rules and methods of conversion of legacy issues of WIBOR-based debt instruments
• The NWG Steering Committee has adopted a Recommendation on applying a fallback rate for the WIBOR benchmark in interest rate derivatives
• Conclusions from the public consultation on the Recommendation of the NWG on applying a fallback rate for the WIBOR benchmark in interest rate derivatives 
• Public consultation on the NWG’s recommendation on interest rate derivatives
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group has endorsed recommendations on products, achieving the key milestone of the Reform Roadmap
• New papers of the National Working Group for benchmark reform
• Summary of conclusions from the public consultation on Recommendation on the application of the WIRON index in issues of floating-rate debt securities
• Public consultation on the NWG’s recommendations on factoring and leasing products
• Another two OIS transactions have been executed in the Polish market
• Public consultation on the draft Recommendation for new contracts for products in PLN
• The NWG Steering Committee has endorsed a recommendation on the standard OIS transaction based on WIRON
• First OIS transaction using WIRON
• Public consultation on the NWG’s recommendations on OIS and bonds
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group has recognised transaction data for the calculation of the WIRON
• Roadmap for the replacement of WIBOR and WIBID benchmarks
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group has held a discussion on the selection of a new benchmark and on the update of the draft Roadmap
• Steering Committee of the National Working Group has selected WIRD® as an alternative interest rate benchmark
• The Steering Committee of the National Working Group has discussed a draft roadmap for benchmark reform
• National working group for the reform of benchmarks started work