On Christmas Eve, a new regulation came into force regarding, among other things, compensation policies at brokerage houses. In addition, in December 2021, the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments was amended. 

Among other things, the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments introduces an obligation to establish a gender-balanced compensation committee in brokerage houses in which the average value of balance sheet assets and off-balance sheet items in the four-year period immediately preceding a given financial year is higher than the PLN equivalent of EUR 100,000,000. In addition the Act stipulates that compensation policies must be gender neutral.  

The regulation, in turn, regulates, among other things, the cases when brokerage houses or individual risk-takers are not subject to its provisions pertaining to: 

• deferring a portion of variable compensation components; 
• determining a portion of variable compensation components in financial instruments; and 
• discretionary pension benefits. 

The provisions of the regulation apply to variable compensation components due from 2022. 

Brokerage houses must review their compensation policies and bring them into compliance with the new law. 

Find more in the PRO HR January 2022.