Polish competition authorities have launched a dawn raid on the country's central credit registry and several major banks, signaling a deepening regulatory scrutiny of how lending decisions are made.
Inspectors from the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) entered the premises of the Credit Information Bureau (BIK) and multiple banking institutions on Tuesday to examine internal documents and systems.
The investigation centers on whether the creditworthiness assessment models used by BIK and the banks, along with the exchange of data within the banking system, have created barriers to entry or limited competition.
Regulators are specifically looking for evidence that the current framework for sharing credit data and scoring borrowers has been used to entrench the market position of incumbent lenders, potentially harming consumer choice and innovation.
This move by UOKiK aligns with a broader European trend of regulators examining the intersection of data privacy, credit scoring, and market competition.
In Germany, the Federal Court of Justice is currently reviewing whether credit agency disclosures comply with GDPR transparency requirements, while in the United States, the Federal Reserve continues to stress-test major banks against severe economic downturn scenarios.