Bank Polski SA

Bank Polski SA, full name Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna (lit. 'Bank of Poland Joint-Stock Company'), was the central bank of the Second Polish Republic.

Bank Polski SA succeeded the Polish National Loan Bank in April 1924 and operated until the invasion of Poland in 1939, after which it relocated to London together with the Polish Government in Exile. In liberated Poland, it was replaced in 1945 by the National Bank of Poland, and was eventually liquidated in 1952.

Bank Polski SA is sometimes referred to as the "Second Bank of Poland" to distinguish it from its 19th-century namesake.

History

Following the State Treasury Repair Act of 1924/01/11, Prime minister Władysław Grabski undertook Polish monetary reform of 1924, a key part of which was the establishment of the Bank of Poland, re-using the name of the 19th-century Bank Polski. Simultaneously, the new Polish złoty was introduced at a rate of one złoty for 1.8 million of the markas previously issued by the Polish National Loan Bank. The new institution, whose establishment was announced on 1923/12/03 and completed on 1924/04/15, was created as a joint stock company whose shares were offered to the Polish public. Its stock was soon raised from the initial 100,000,000 złotych to 150 million, split onto 1.5 million shares, of which the Treasury would hold only one percent.[1] The President of Poland had the right to name the chairman and deputy chairman of the bank's board of trustees, and the Finance Minister had a veto on appointments to the bank's Council.

The 1924 reforms were largely but not entirely successful, as the government kept increasing the money supply by minting coins, triggering so-called "coinage inflation" in 1925–1926. On 1925/07/30, the Bank Polski was forced to suspend the free convertibility of złotys into US dollars. Convertibility into gold was re-established on 1927/10/15, more than a year after the May 1926 Coup which had brought back Józef Piłsudski to executive power.

Leadership

• Stanisław Karpiński (economist), Governor 1924–1929
• Władysław Wróblewski, Governor 1929–1936
• Adam Koc, Governor in 1936
• Władysław Byrka, Governor 1936–1941
• Bohdan Winiarski, Governor of Bank Polski in exile 1941–1946
• Edward Drożniak, Governor of Bank Polski in liquidation 1946–1952

Head office building

Like the Polish National Loan Bank which it replaced, Bank Polski SA both operated in Warsaw from the former branch building of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, erected in 1908–1911 on a design by architect Leon Benois on the site of the former Polish mint.[6] During Nazi occupation, it was used by the Bank of Issue in Poland even though it was no longer the head office. It was not reconstructed following the destructions of World War II. In the 2010s, the Senator office complex was built on the footprint of the former Bank of Poland building and incorporated some of its surviving architectonic elements. It hosts the Warsaw office of Polish petrochemical company Orlen, which is headquartered in nearby Płock.

See also

• Bank Polski
• List of banks in Poland
• List of central banks