Work has been started by the national working group for the reform of benchmarks, appointed in connection with the planned reform of benchmarks, envisaging, among others, the introduction of a new interest rate benchmark, with input data being information representing overnight (ON) transactions.

The purpose of the group’s work is to prepare a roadmap and a schedule of activities for a smooth and safe implementation of each element of a process leading to the WIBOR interest rate benchmark being replaced with a new 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. International or foreign institutions may be invited to join the group’s activities.

The group’s activities are carried out as project work. Project streams have been identified to carry out work related to mainly the development of the new benchmark, adaptation of the settlement and trading systems and interest rate schedules to the new type of benchmark, creation of a yield curve to allow the setting of term interest rates, interest rates of bonds or banks’ own issues. Each project stream is managed by representatives of institutions represented in the working group, both from the public sector and commercial sector. 

The group’s activities are supervised and coordinated by the Steering Committee composed of the Ministry of Finance, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, GPW Benchmark, the Polish Development Fund Group, and ING Bank Śląski as a representative of the financial sector.

The working group’s work plan envisages that in August 2022 – based on the roadmap and reports prepared by the streams – the national working group will define the best operating scenario with respect to the change of benchmarks, considering both the objectives of the reform of benchmarks and the need to carry out the process so as to ensure the safe functioning of the financial market.

Updates on the progress of the working group’s activities will be communicated after the achievement of each milestone.