The Act on the National Register of Indebted Persons (Polish: Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych – KRZ), which partially entered into force on February 1, 2019, establishes a new public register that will be accessible to everyone via the internet. The register will be accessible from December 1, 2020 – until then, provisions concerning other public registers (e.g., the court register) will enter into force. Pursuant to Article 2(1), point 1, subparagraph ac, the register constitutes a register of insolvency proceedings in accordance with Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 20, 2015.
The new register will be maintained by the Minister of Justice and will replace the current register of insolvent debtors (Polish: Rejestr Dłużników Niewypłacalnych). The new law aims to increase the security of business transactions and facilitate their oversight.
In general, the register is intended to serve as a source of information about natural and legal persons who are insolvent or threatened with insolvency. A discontinued enforcement proceeding can also be a reason for entry in the register. This means that the new register will contain and publish information on, among other things:
a) natural and legal persons, as well as organizational units that are not legal persons
but are granted legal capacity by law, against whom, among other things, restructuring, insolvency, or secondary insolvency proceedings are or have been carried out;
b) partners of partnerships who are liable without limitation for the obligations of the company, insofar as an application for insolvency of the company has been filed or rejected;
c) natural and legal persons, as well as organizational units that are not legal persons but are granted legal capacity by law, against whom judicial or administrative enforcement by the competent tax office or the competent department of the social security institution has been discontinued;
d) natural persons against whom enforcement proceedings are pending for failure to pay maintenance (arrears of more than 3 months).
The above information includes, among other things, the following:
a) the name and first name,
b) company name,
c) the place of residence / registered office,
d) the PESEL or tax identification number,
e) the name of the court conducting the proceedings,
f) the case number of the proceedings,
g) information on the debtor's filing of a restructuring application, a bankruptcy application or an application for the opening of secondary insolvency proceedings.
The authors of the draft legislation emphasize that the data published in the register will uniquely identify the debtor while also allowing for relatively easy data retrieval. Search criteria will include the PESEL number, the VAT identification number, and the business registration number. This is intended to guarantee the reliability of the information provided through the National Register of Debtors.
question remains: how long will the debtor's data be published in the national register of indebted persons?
The general rule stipulates that data in the register is automatically removed from publication 10 years after the final conclusion or discontinuation of the respective proceedings. In some cases, however, the period is 7 or 3 years. The difference arises from the legal basis and the reasons for the entry in the register.
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