The Ultimate Guide to
Best Online Brokers for Poland
Poland’s financial sector has a long history, with its Warsaw stock exchange dating back to 1817 when the Warsaw Mercantile Exchange was founded. The country has since seen notable economic growth since the fall of the Soviet Union and the country’s transition to democracy, with the economy experiencing a number of market reforms, including large-scale privatisations.
The primary stock market in Poland is the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW), which is located in Warsaw, Poland and was created in 1991 after the overthrow of Poland’s communist leadership. In addition to stocks and their derivatives, the GPW also provides a listing service for fixed income products, subscription rights, index participation units, allotments and derivatives like futures and options. The GPW now ranks as the 33rd largest stock exchange group worldwide by market capitalisation based on information compiled by the World Federation of Exchanges.
The oldest and main broad stock index for the GPW is the WIG that consists of 318 companies. The GPW’s narrower blue chip indices are the WIG20 and the WIG 30, which are capitalisation weighted indices that respectively include the largest 20 and 30 companies listed on the GPW.
Forex traders could be familiar with the Polish zloty (PLN) that is the Polish national currency. The PLN is issued and managed by the National Bank of Poland (NBP). The zloty is further comprised of 100 lesser units called groszy.
As per the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)’s data for 2016, the zloty ranks as the 22nd most commonly traded currency worldwide and accounted for 0.7% of total forex turnover that year. The zloty did not rank among the most popular reserve currencies held by central banks in 2018, based on information provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The financial sector, including forex trading, in Poland is regulated by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA) or the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF) in Polish. This regulator aims to ensure the proper functioning, stability, transparency and security of Polish financial markets, as well as to maintain investor confidence in them and ensure that market participants’ interests are protected.
How to Trade in Poland
Many online brokers who offer forex or contracts for difference (CFDs) will accept clients from Poland, although finding an EU-based broker will typically be preferable since they have a reputation to uphold within the EU. This may also allow a trader based in Poland to sue them locally if a problem arises.
If a non-EU broker seems better, remember that they should be competently regulated in a strict jurisdiction. They should also segregate client funds from their own to be considered trustworthy since this helps keep deposited money safe in case of their insolvency. They should also be reputable and have a decent range of services and tradable asset classes.
Almost all online brokers will provide prospective traders with demo accounts complete with virtual money so they can practice trading with the broker’s platform and test out strategies. Online brokers generally also offer funded trading accounts that require a minimum initial deposit to let a trader start making real transactions. Quite a few brokers will also offer Sharia law compliant or Islamic accounts without swaps on rollovers that will suit Muslim traders.
Regarding the various asset classes available for online trading, the choices can differ substantially between brokers. Online forex and contract for difference (CFD) brokers will generally allow forex trading of some type, while CFD brokers might allow transactions to be executed in a wider set of tradable assets.
Regarding stock trading, The Warsaw Stock Exchange provides a fair and transparent market in a variety of asset classes, in addition to Polish stocks. GPW exchange trades are generally executed in Polish zlotys.
The GPW and other consolidated Euronext stock and derivatives exchanges previously employed the UTP trading software, but that is in the process of being replaced with the Optiq multi-market platform, which will be fully operational by late November 2019. Euronext also has a Single Order Book which lets traders to clear, trade and settle across all Euronext markets uniformly.
Biggest Opportunities of Trading in Poland
Poland is also the 6th largest economy in the European Union (EU) and the largest among the former Eastern Bloc nations, with a land area of 306,230 square kilometers. Poland has a population of 38 million that ranks 37th globally, and 60.9% of its population lives in urban areas.
Furthermore, according to GOV.UK, Poland offers a number opportunities for businesses including:
- A domestic market with over 38 million consumers which enjoys widespread English language use, particularly amongst younger people.
- a strong, dynamic economy with access to the emerging markets of eastern Europe.
- A central location in Europe, with EU and NATO membership.
- A €105.8 billion EU fund allocation between 2014 and 2020.
- investment incentives in Special Economic Zones (SEZ), business and technology parks.
Poland was ranked 33rd overall by the World Bank for the easy of doing business in the country. Other favourable rankings include trading across borders (1st), resolving insolvencies (25th), getting credit (32nd), dealing with construction permits (40th) and registering property (41st).
Biggest Challenges of Trading in Poland
EU countries, such as Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, and The Netherlands are among Poland’s top trading partners, according to data provided by the World Bank Group. Therefore, the UK’s impending Brexit on October 31st, 2019 could strain the close trading relationship between the two countries and result in considerable uncertainty for Poland’s economy.
In addition, while it is a member of the EU, Poland does not yet enjoy the currency stability provided by the Eurozone, so even European trade partners can experience an unstable currency environment while Poland continues to use its national currency the zloty.
After being a consistent net importer for many years, Poland started running balance of trade surpluses for most periods since 2013. This suggests Poland’s economy can suffer from trade wars or tariffs, especially if key trade accords fail. Furthermore, The World Bank determined that Poland had a somewhat high 54.3% ratio of its trade to GDP numbers in 2017, which raises its economic vulnerability to trade issues.
The World Bank ranked Poland 121st for starting a business, so that indicates considerable room for improvement in that area. The country also ranked rather low at 69th for paying taxes, 58th for getting electricity, 57th for protecting minority investors and 53rd for enforcing contracts.
Summary
In summary, businesses and traders should find Poland a reasonably secure and improving place to operate in because of its position in the EU, although the country is not yet part of the Eurozone. Poland also enjoys a top ranking for trading across borders, as per the World Bank.
Furthermore, Polish financial institutions and online brokers operating in Poland are competently overseen by the PFSA/KNF. They are also required to comply with the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) regulations and the EMSA’s forex trading rules.
When considering which online broker to trade through from Poland, traders will want to check that the broker has a sufficient asset class range, a strong reputation, a suitably featured trading platform and strict local regulation. Trustworthy brokers will also keep client funds deposited as margin segregated from their own money in case they run into financial troubles.
