The first part of the meeting organized on 16 June in Park Hotel, Szczecin, focused on corporate bonds.  Konrad Sobczyk, specialist in charge of securities issues in Investment Banking Department of Raiffeisen Polbank, explained the use of these financial instruments and why firms should issue them now.  ”Raising funds in the form of corporate bonds issues in Poland is accelerating.  Interest rates, which directly impact the costs of funding, are a crucial factor contributing to the growth in popularity of this form of fundraising”, he noticed and added,  “But this is just one kind of incentive for potential issuers. Issuing bonds means diversifying of funding sources, which is a good addition to or even a replacement of traditional loans.  Further, funds obtained from bonds can be used to finance all sorts of initiatives, which is not the case with loans.  Other advantages of corporate bonds include redemption at the end of their life and usually lower level of contractual restrictions regarding the terms of issue than in the case of loan agreements.” 

 

OT Logistics has been a success story of bond issue.  Each of its four issues has had a different purpose, which, as pointed out by Grzegorz Sorn, Director in Charge of Economics in OT Logistics, has allowed optimization of the structure of balance sheet and financial expenses, extending liability payment deadlines upon acquisition, funding development of the capital group and, in the case of the latest issue performed by Raiffeisen, refunding the first series bonds and obtaining funds for acquisition and development of OT Logistics Capital Group.  “Upon the issue of the first series bonds in 2011 and entering the Catalyst market at WSE, we intended to get listed with WSE”, said Grzegorz Sorn. OT Logistics had its IPO two years later. 

 

During the second part of the meeting, Piotr Diakowski, Manager in Tax Advisory Department, Deloitte, discussed transfer pricing changes currently developed by the Ministry of Finance and planned for 2016. The governmental discussions are at their early stages and it is not yet possible to determine whether the changes will bring any benefits to business entities.  “The planned amendments to the CIT Act are substantial and so far, nothing has been said about their shortcomings.  It is assumed that once the amendments have been completed by the Ministry of Finance, all OECD countries will have similar transfer pricing regulations, which should be advantageous.  Mostly though, the amendments are aimed to make the audits of transfer pricing settlements more efficient. At the same time, if the same rules bind the entire international group, preparation of relevant documentation will be easier from the group viewpoint.  From the local business perspective, documentation burdens may increase, though", said Piotr Diakowski. 

 

The partners of the meeting included Deloitte, Raiffeisen Polbank, KS Service and Investor and Exporter Service Center of the Marshall Office in Szczecin. 

 

The next FINEXA meeting shall be held in autumn.  “We want the nearest meeting to touch upon shared services.  Bearing in mind the importance of stakeholders’ integration, in cooperation with other financial organizations we are attempting to organize a large networking event”, says Sebastian Goschorski, a representative of FINEXA in Zachodniopomorskie Province and one of the organizers. 

 

AK