Poland

Regulations

• Can financial institutions use AWS?

  Yes. Financial institutions in Poland are permitted to use cloud services, provided that they comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, such as those described below. 

• Who is the financial regulator?

  Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (Polish Financial Supervision Authority, KNF) is Poland’s financial supervisory authority and supervises, inter alia, credit institutions, securities markets and brokers, fund managers, payment services providers, investment firms, and insurance and reinsurance companies. It absorbed previous financial and insurance oversight bodies to centralize supervisory powers for financial markets and participants in those markets within Poland.
  

• What regulations apply to financial institutions using AWS?

  The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a pan-European legislative framework for operational and cyber resilience in the financial sector. DORA outlines the following:

  • Improvements in information and communications technology (ICT) and security risk-management requirements
  • A harmonized regime for ICT incident reporting
  • Development of a digital operational resilience testing framework
  • An oversight framework for critical ICT third-party providers

  DORA doesn't restrict or limit how financial entities (FEs) subject to DORA requirements adopt and use cloud services.
  

  Financial institutions in Poland may be subject to a number of different legal and regulatory requirements when they use cloud services. For example, the KNF issued a Communication on Information Processing by Supervised Entities using Public or Hybrid Cloud Computing Services on 23 January 2020 (the "Polish Cloud Guidelines"). The Polish Cloud Guidelines apply to certain financial institutions authorized in Poland, including banks, insurance companies, pension firms, investment firms and electronic money institutions, and provide guidance to these entities when they are using or planning to use cloud services. This guidance covers a variety of contractual and operational areas, including risk assessment, information processing requirements, audit rights, sub-outsourcing and contingency plans.

  Customers that have questions about the Polish Cloud Guidelines, and how these may apply to their use of AWS services, can reach out to their account representative.

  Additional local regulations, guidelines, and laws in Poland may also apply to financial institutions in Poland when they use cloud services. These include the following:
  

  • Insurance Law: Ustawa z dnia 11 września 2015 r. o działalności ubezpieczeniowej i reasekuracyjnej

  • Banking Law: ustawa z dnia 29 sierpnia 1997 Prawo bankowe  

  • Cloud Computing Communication: Komunikat Urzędu Komisji Nadzoru Finansowego dotyczący korzystania przez podmioty nadzorowane z usług przetwarzania danych w chmurze obliczeniowej dated 23 October 2017

  Regulations are changing rapidly in this space, and AWS is working to help customers proactively respond to new rules and guidelines. AWS encourages its financial institutions customers to obtain appropriate advice on their compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements that are relevant to their business, including the Polish Cloud Guidelines and other local regulations, guidelines, and laws.
  
  

• Key considerations for financial institutions using AWS

  AWS is committed to offering customers a strong compliance framework and advanced tools and security measures that customers can use to evaluate meet, and demonstrate compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

  Financial institutions who are using or planning to use AWS services can take the following steps to better understand their compliance needs:

  1. Consider the purpose of the workload(s) under consideration and the relevant categories of data in order to anticipate which legal and regulatory requirements may apply.

  2. Assess the classification of the relevant workload(s) and information in light of local requirements. For example, Section V of the Polish Cloud Guidelines contains assessment considerations for financial institutions.
  

  3. Review the AWS Shared Responsibility Model and map AWS responsibilities and customer responsibilities according to each AWS service that will be used. Customers can also use AWS Artifact to access AWS’s audit reports and conduct their assessment of the control responsibilities.

  4. Customers who have further questions about how AWS services can enable their security and compliance needs, or who would like more information, can contact their account representative.

• Key data privacy and protection considerations for financial institutions using AWS

  Financial institutions in Poland using AWS services should also consider applicable privacy requirements, including the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
  

  If customers process or are planning to process the personal data of data subjects in the European Union (EU), they should visit AWS’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Center. More information on these requirements is available at Navigating GDPR Compliance on AWS.
  

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