Jacek Jastrzębski, Chair of the KNF, spoke at the EFC panel titled ‘Mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector: strategic choice or market necessity?’. 

The panel was an attempt to reflect more broadly on the role of mergers and acquisitions in modern banking and to answer the question whether the transactions witnessed in 2025 were only an extraordinary episode or rather the beginning of a stable consolidation trend.

The contribution of the Chair of the KNF concerned the approach of the KNF to ownership change and M&A transaction processes in the banking sector. The key objective is to increase the predictability of the supervision authority’s actions through open communication and clear presentation of expectations towards investors. When assessing potential acquirers of banks, the most important criteria remain unchanged: experience in the financial sector, financial capacity, long-term investment horizon and readiness to implement obligations related to corporate governance and banks’ presence on stock exchange. Geopolitical factors are increasingly important though.

Jacek Jastrzębski has mentioned that the Polish banking sector once again became attractive to investors. The supervision authority is open to new transaction structures and treats them as a proof of the market’s attractiveness. He has also encouraged potential investors to have a direct dialogue with the supervision authority rather than act on the basis of stereotypes or conceptions regarding the KNF’s approach.

As part of the discussion on the factors conducive or obstructive to M&A transactions, Jacek Jastrzębski has pointed to the fact that one of elements is technology development and the consequent business delocalisation, which favours expansion abroad through cross-border activity or branches, without taking over local entities. This means that traditional acquisitions are no longer the only option of entering a new market.

The major risk in M&A transactions are not strategic issues, however, but operational ones. According to Jacek Jastrzębski, investors may underestimate the scale of challenges related to organisational and technological separation or integration after acquisition. Those aspects related to the interconnectedness of systems, processes and infrastructure may be decisive for the success or failure of the transaction as a whole and affect the clients’ experience directly.