COMMUNIQUÉ OF GPW BENCHMARK S.A.

• On June 2, 2025, GPW Benchmark S.A.¹ begins provision of the POLSTR Interest Rate Index and indices from the POLSTR Compound Indices Family, i.e. POLSTR 1M Compound Rate, POLSTR 3M Compound Rate, POLSTR 6M Compound Rate and POLSTR Compound Index.
• As of June 2, 2025, the following shall apply: The Rules of POLSTR Interest Rate Index and The Rules of POLSTR Compound Indices Family.
• POLSTR Interest Rate Index and indices from POLSTR Compound Indices Family are ready for use in accordance with the Benchmark Regulation (BMR)².
• POLSTR Interest Rate Index and indices from POLSTR Compound Indices Family will be determined on each business day starting from June 2, 2025 at 8:55 a.m. or shortly after and published on the administrator's website at 12:55 p.m. or shortly after.
• On GPW Benchmark S.A. website, you can find so-called pre-production history of the POLSTR Interest Rate Index and indices from POLSTR Compound Indices Family calculated on historical transaction data for the period from January 4, 2021.

Consistently with the roadmap defined by the Steering Committee of the National Working Group (NWG) on benchmark reform, GPW Benchmark S.A. begins  determining the POLSTR (Polish Short Term Rate) Interest Rate Index and POLSTR Compound Indices Family in accordance with the provisions of the Benchmark Regulation.

As a result of the NWG’s work, the NWG Steering Committee decided to select POLSTR as the recommended interest rate benchmark to replace the existing WIBOR benchmark in the event of a cessation of its provision³.

The administrator adopted and published the necessary documentation allowing for the provision of POLSTR in accordingly to  the requirements of the Benchmark Regulation - thus in relation to POLSTR and indices from POLSTR Compound Indices Family, the conditions necessary for the possibility of their use as a benchmark by supervised entities in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds have been met.

The POLSTR presents the average level of the volume-weighted interest rate of O/N maturity deposit transactions in PLN (Polish zloty) concluded in the wholesale money market. Following the results of the NWG’s work, the  POLSTR intends to measure a wholesale money market, defined as the market of unsecured deposits concluded by credit institutions and financial institutions. The value of POLSTR is determined and published on the next business day after the date of the transactions, which constitute the input data for its determination.

The administrator defines POLSTR as an interest rate index that is close to a risk-free rate (RFR). The provision of RFR indices means that the intention of the index is to represent the interest rate measured upon assumption of reduced market risk, including the risk of market expectations regarding future interest rates, as well as liquidity risk, credit risk. Providing RFR indices and switching from IBOR indices to indices that do not take into account i.a. the abovementioned risk factors is a part of a global trend in benchmark reforms.

The POLSTR is an index based on one-day deposit transactions from a given business day. Based on historical POLSTR values, indices from the POLSTR Compound Indices Family are determined and they may be used in financial products and contracts:

(a) POLSTR 1M Compound Rate, POLSTR 3M Compound Rate, POLSTR 6M Compound Rate, which reflects the interest rate calculated in accordance with the compound interest method resulting from the compound of the one-day rates expressed by daily POLSTR values over a given backward-looking predefined period⁴;

(b) POLSTR Compound Index is the accumulated value of an investment earning interest at the POLSTR interest rate, expressed in index points. The start date for the POLSTR Compound Index was set on January 4, 2021, and the start value at 100⁵.

The POLSTR Compound Indices are provided for backward-looking predefined period, and because they belong to the category of "backward-looking" indices, this means that gradually, over time, they take into account the changing economic reality, including e.g. changes in the level of NBP (National Bank of Poland) interest rates (and not expectations regarding future NBP interest rates changes, as does WIBOR benchmark, which belongs to the category of "looking-forward" indices).

GPW Benchmark S.A. provides so-called pre-production history of POLSTR and POLSTR Compound Indices Family calculated on the input data contributed by data contributors from January 4, 2021. In order to ensure the possibility of fulfilling the obligations resulting from the benchmark reform, GPW Benchmark S.A. has provided the simulation of the history of POLSTR dating back to 2019, which is necessary to determine the value of credit adjustment spread. This spread will be applied in case of a cessation of WIBID and WIBOR Reference Rates and is calculated as the median of 5-years long time series of the differences between the historical values of the replaced benchmark and its replacement. The status of historical POLSTR simulation has been accepted by the NWG Steering Committee based on quantitative analysis carried out by GPW Benchmark S.A.

The Benchmark Statement for the POLSTR Interest Rate Index and the Benchmark Statement for POLSTR Compound Indices Family will be made available over the next two weeks.

Regulations and other documentation are available here.

Information on the POLSTR Interest Rate Index and indices from the POLSTR Compound Indices Family, including its values and statistics, are available on the website of GPW Benchmark S.A. (https://gpwbenchmark.pl/) in the "POLSTR & WIRON" tab.