A broad range of activities is regulated by the Banking Law, the Insurance Activity Act, the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments, the Payment Services Act, and the Investment Funds Act.

Banking activities

According to the Banking Law, the general rule is that only banks can conduct regulated banking activities (for example, enter into a credit agreement governed by the Banking Law as lender). The Banking Law defines "bank" as a legal entity established in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws and acting on the basis of a license authorizing it to carry on regulated banking activities.

According to the Banking Law, the following activities are considered banking activities in Poland:

• Accepting cash deposits payable on demand or on a specified date and operating related accounts for such deposits
• Operating other bank accounts
• Lending money under credit agreements as lender
• Granting and confirming bank guarantees, and opening and confirming letters of credit
• Issuing bank securities
• Performing bank monetary settlements
• Performing other operations reserved solely for a bank under separate acts of law

Insurance activities

Under the Insurance Activity Act, the conduct of insurance or reinsurance activities requires permission from the KNF. Insurance activities can be engaged in by an insurance undertaking operating as an insurance undertaking (zakład ubezpieczeń) or an insurance and reinsurance undertaking (zakład ubezpieczeń i reasekuracji).

According to the Insurance Activity Act, "insurance activities" are to be understood as the conduct of insurance activities related to offering and granting coverage for risks arising from the consequences of random events.

Insurance activities include the following:

1. Entering into insurance contracts, insurance guarantee contracts, or ordering authorized insurance intermediaries to enter into such contracts, as well as the performance thereof
2. Entering into reinsurance contracts or ordering reinsurance brokers to enter into such contracts, as well as the performance thereof, in the scope of assigning the risk from insurance contracts or insurance guarantee contracts (outward reinsurance)
3. Submitting declarations of intent with regard to claims for compensation or other benefits due under the contracts referred to in points 1) and 2) above
4. Determining premiums and commissions due under the contracts referred to in points 1) and 2) above
5. Establishing, by way of civil and legal activities, property or personal collaterals if they are directly connected with entering into the contracts referred to in points 1) and 2) above

The following are also considered insurance activities:

1. Conducting risk assessments with respect to personal insurance and property insurance as well as insurance guarantee contracts
2. Paying compensation and other benefits due under insurance policies, insurance guarantees or reinsurance contracts
3. Taking over and selling objects or rights acquired by an insurance undertaking in connection with the performance of an insurance contract or an insurance guarantee contract
4. Inspecting whether policyholders or insured parties comply with the obligations and security principles specified in a contract or in general insurance terms and conditions with regard to the items protected by insurance
5. Conducting recourse proceedings and collection proceedings connected with the performance of the following:
   1. Insurance contracts and insurance guarantee contracts
   2. Reinsurance contracts with regard to assigning risk deriving from insurance contracts and insurance guarantee contracts
6. Investing insurance undertaking funds
7. Performing other activities envisaged for an insurance undertaking in separate acts

An insurance undertaking may not conduct activities other than those that fall within the scope of the insurance it provides or are directly related to such insurance.

"Reinsurance activities" is understood as referring to the performance of activities connected with accepting risk assigned by an insurance undertaking or reinsurance undertaking and the further assignment of such adopted risk. These activities include the following in particular:

1. Entering into and performing reinsurance acceptance contracts and retrocession contracts, or ordering entry into retrocession contracts from reinsurance brokers, as well as performing such contracts
2. Submitting declarations of intent with regard to claims for compensation or other benefits due under the contracts referred to in point 1 above
3. Determining premiums and commissions due under the contracts referred to in point 1 above
4. Verifying whether assignors comply with the terms and conditions of the contracts referred to above

A reinsurance undertaking may not conduct activities other than those that fall within the scope of the reinsurance it provides or are directly related to such reinsurance. Activities directly related to reinsurance are, in particular, activities such as statistical consultancy, actuarial consultancy, risk analysis, research for clients, investing reinsurance undertaking funds, as well as activities concerning the prevention or reduction of the effects of insured accidents or preventive fund financing of such activities.

Brokerage activities (investment services and activities)

Under the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments, implementing, inter alia, Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments (MiFID), an entity that intends to perform brokerage activities must obtain a license from the KNF before it starts operating. As stated in Article 69 (2) of the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments, brokerage activities comprise national implementation of requirements related to "investment services and activities" listed in Section A of Annex I to MiFID, i.e.:

• Reception and transmission of orders for the acquisition or disposal of financial instruments
• Execution of the abovementioned orders for the account of the investors from whom those orders originate
• Acquisition or disposal of financial instruments for own account
• Portfolio management, where such portfolios include one or more financial instruments
• Investment advice
• Offering financial instruments
• Provision of services as part of performance of concluded underwriting agreements or conclusion and performance of similar agreements the subject matter of which also provides for financial instruments
• Organization of an multilateral trading facility (MTF) (a multilateral system operated outside the regulated market that matches financial instruments acquisition and disposal offers in a manner resulting in transactions concluded within the system in accordance with the specific rules and in a non-discretionary manner)
• Organization of an organized trading facility (OTF) (a multilateral system that matches, on a discretionary basis, offers for the acquisition or disposal submitted by third parties with regard to bonds, structured finance products, emission allowances, derivative instruments, or energy products constituting the object of wholesale trade that have to be effected by way of delivery, without being a regulated market or an MTF)

Payment services

The Payment Services Act, implementing, inter alia, Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, defines "payment services" as activities that include the following:

• Placement and withdrawal of cash / operating a payment account
• Execution of payment transactions: direct debits, payment transactions through a payment card, transfer orders
• Issuance of payment instruments
• Entering into agreements with suppliers of goods and services for accepting payment transactions executed using payment instruments
• Money remittance
• Initiation of payment transactions
• Account information services in relation to a payment account

According to the Payments Services Act, payment services may only be provided by payment service providers (dostawcy usług płatnicznych), while the issuing of electronic money and its redemption may only be carried out by electronic money issuers (wydawcy pieniądza elektronicznego). It should be noted that while the Payment Services Act does not explicitly require an entity to obtain a license in order to be able to provide payment services (except for the two instances described below), it imposes limitations on the provision of payment services by certain entities. Payment services can be provided by the following entities:

• Domestic banks
• Credit institutions and branches of credit institutions
• Branches of foreign banks
• Electronic money institutions
• Payment institutions
• The European Central Bank, National Bank of Poland, central banks
• Public administration bodies
• Credit unions
• Payment services bureaus
• Branches of authorized entities from the EU
• Small payment institutions
• Service providers performing only informational duties on a payment account

The entities listed above are either public or strictly regulated, i.e., banks, with those highlighted in bold specifically engaged in the provision of payment services and requiring either a license (in the case of domestic payment institutions (krajowe instytucje płatnicze) as referred to in Article 60 (1) of the Payment Services Act) or the entry into the payment services offices' register (in case of payment services bureaus (biura usług płatniczych) as referred to in Article 119 (1) of the Payment Services Act). It should be noted that payment institutions established in other EU member states are considered payment institutions within the meaning of the Payment Services Act and are therefore allowed to provide payment services in Poland.

Investment funds and alternative investment funds

An investment fund is a collective investment institution that invests the funds entrusted to it with the aim of generating income, which it distributes to its participants. Depending on its legal form, a fund either sells participation units (jednostki uczestnistwa) or issues investment certificates (certyfikaty inwestycyjne).

As stated in Article 14(3) of the Investment Funds Act, an investment fund can be established in the form of an open-end investment fund, a specialized open-end investment fund, or a close-end investment fund. An investment fund can only be established by a management company (towarzystwo funduszy inwestycyjnych).

The scope of operations of the management company is limited to the creation of open-end or foreign investment funds; their management, including intermediation in the sale and re-purchase of participation units; their representation in relation to third parties; and the management of a collective portfolio of securities.

With authorization from the KNF, a management company can expand the scope of its operations to include the creation and management of specialized open-end and close-end investment funds, including intermediation in the sale and re-purchase of units as well as their representation in relation to third parties and the management of EU alternative investment funds (EU AIFs), including their marketing.

The act also provides certain specific regulations concerning AIFs. An AIF is a collective investment undertaking that raises capital from a number of investors with a view to investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of those investors, whereas such undertaking cannot be a fund operating in accordance with the EU law governing collective investment in securities.

It should also be noted that the current Polish regulations do not allow non-EU AIFM or non-EU AIF to operate in Poland, as Poland has not established a private placement regime under Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMD).

Crypto-assets

Following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCAR), Poland is in the process of establishing certain regulations aimed at ensuring its proper and effective implementation, especially by the Law on Crypto-Assets. The KNF is expected to be the authority responsible for supervising crypto-assets service providers under MiCAR.