Safe Bank

Deposit guaranteeing is a key component of the financial safety net that stabilises the banking system. The March 2023 episode of systemic instability in the US triggered a crisis of confidence as to whether the existing deposit guarantee framework adequately protects banks' resilience to panics and shocks. The article analyses and tests some of the assumptions of the ongoing debate on reforming the EU Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance (CMDI) package. The main conclusions of the literature review and the empirical study are that fundamental features such as adequate capitalisation and profitability of banks are crucial to maintain stability, while some of the proposals of the new CMDI are legitimate and will enhance the stability of the EU banking system. The empirical study confirms the main conclusions of the debate that bank runs and panics depend not only on the extent and level of deposit guarantee under national guarantee schemes, and that the volume of unguaranteed wholesale deposits in EU countries does not pose a serious threat to banking sector stability as an isolated factor.

The experience gathered in recent years has shown that the dominant method used in bank resolution is the transfer strategy which involves transfer of all or selected assets and liabilities from the problem bank to the new, market acquirer. The analysis outlined in this article indicates a number of advantages of the transfer strategy compared to the alternative bail-in strategy or a standard insolvency proceedings. In particular, the transfer strategy allows for setting lower requirements in terms of the bank’s internal loss absorbing capacity, which make it particularly suitable for smaller deposit-funded banks. However, the success of a transfer strategy depends on several factors and its implementation requires adequate preparation. The article attempts to outline the most important determinants of a successful transfer strategy.

The article concerns situation of the banking sector in Poland and Sweden in three periods of economic downturn, i.e. the crises of the 1990s, the global financial crisis initiated in the United States in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this article is to assess impact of the Nordic crisis and crisis of transition countries of the 1990s, as well as global financial crisis and economic slowdown related to COVID-19 pandemic on Polish and Swedish banking sectors.

The analysis confirmed the correct level of the banking sectors in Poland and Sweden in 1990-2022. The indicators did not differ significantly from the average values compared to the global situation. In Poland, changes took place to a greater extent during the COVID-19 pandemic than during the global financial crisis. In Sweden, it was the opposite.

The Vollgeld Initiative in Switzerland was one of the important attempts to change the country’s monetary system in the current century. Its main demand was to give the central bank a monopoly on issuing digital bank money. The assumptions of the Vollgeld Initiative were based on the concept of sovereign money, which emerged in the first half of the 20^th century and was a response to the instability of the financial system. The objectives of the article were (1) to present the Vollgeld Initiative and the related concept of sovereign money, and (2) to analyze the arguments for and against the adoption of the Vollgeld Initiative. The article poses the following thesis: although in theory the concept of sovereign money allows for increased control over the lending activities of banks, in the case of a small open economy, its implementation carries numerous risks for the stability of the economic system. A critical analysis of the literature on the subject was used to verify the thesis. Data sources and literature sources were Polish and foreign academic articles and studies, Initiative Monnaie Pleine publications, documents of the Swiss National Bank and Internet sources.

Scientific objective: This article aims to summarise the contemporary knowledge of ransomware threats and to examine their impact on critical infrastructure in Poland.

Research problem and methods: The research problem is to analyse the growing threat of ransomware, especially in the context of its impact on public and private institutions. Research methods include a critical analysis of the literature and case studies of actual attacks.

Executive process: Based on a literature review and incident analysis, the paper discusses the stages of a ransomware attack, examples of known incidents in Poland and analyses the level of threat in different economic sectors.

Result of scientific analysis: The analysis shows that ransomware has become a serious threat to various sectors, especially critical infrastructure, capable of paralysing the activities of institutions and causing data leaks.

Conclusions, innovations, recommendations: The author emphasise the urgent need to strengthen security and user education as key defence strategies. They also recommend regular backups and international cooperation in the field of cyber security. The article brings new knowledge on strategies to counter ransomware and highlights the need for continuous development of security technologies in response to growing digital threats.

Consumer bankruptcy allows insolvent consumers for debt relief but is also related to restrictions on access to certain financial services, including transaction and credit services (blocking in bank accounts) which may cause serious difficulties for over-indebted consumers in the management of personal finance. Banks may discriminate bankrupts in various areas of financial services during the stages of bankruptcy proceedings and even after its finish. From a macroeconomic perspective, the increasing number of consumer bankruptcies may pose threats to the stability of the financial system and certain restrictions in access to credit services are necessary, but on the other hand, arbitrary exclusion from the area of credit services may deprive many debt-free consumers of the opportunity to improve their well-being and economic condition of households that were deprived of valuable assets, including housing, during bankruptcy proceedings.

Individual Retirement Accounts (in Polish - IKE) are one of the voluntary forms of additional saving for retirement. They are offered by five types of financial institutions, including banks. Although, regardless of the kind of institution, savers are guaranteed a return of capital, this is provided by three different entities. This results, for example, in differences in the maximum return. Other aspects that affect the attractiveness of the accumulation of funds, including security, may include the guarantee of return of the paid-up capital or the issue of fees related to saving. The publication aims to answer the research question: why IKE maintained by banks can be considered the safest method of individual saving for retirement. A critical analysis of the literature on the subject, an economic analysis of the law, and methods of inference and deduction were used to achieve it. The research shows that bank IKEs have the highest deposit return guarantees, are characterized by positive nominal interest rates, and are distinguished by various privileges, such as the enforcement privilege. It is also worth noting that the products analysed do not have handling fees associated with saving individual deposits.