Abstract

The aim of the paper is to evaluate the changes that have taken place in the Polish banking sector over the last 25 years as well as to find the answers to the two following questions, i.e. whether the Polish banking sector has managed to withstand competition since Poland's accession to the European Union and how it has managed to weather the storm of the recent global financial crisis. The examination of the aforementioned topics along with the analysis of the present condition of the Polish banking sector enable to identify the most significant challenges faced by the banks operating in Poland. One of the challenges will undoubtedly be Poland's accession to the euro area, which will largely change the functioning of the Polish banking system as well as its institutional structure.