National Register of Debtors – who does it apply to?

At the beginning of December 2021, the so-called The National Register of Debtors (in Poland abbreviated as KRZ), a public, generally accessible register of debtors, i.e. persons or entities against whom restructuring or bankruptcy proceedings have been conducted or concluded with a final judgment.

The date of entry into force of the provisions has been postponed twice since the Law was enacted in December 2018. The latest, current, and possibly final deadline is December 1st, 2021.

As a rule, it is not possible to enter the National Register of Debtors by way of notification from natural or legal persons or the creditors themselves. The database of KRZ is to be updated frequently only by courts and bailiffs based on pending proceedings and pending final judgments. Who can be entered in the Register is determined by the conditions set out in the Law on the National Register of Debtors of December 6th, 2018 (you can read the content of the act here: Journal of Laws 2019, poz. 55).

Who can enter the Register?

Under Art. 2, point 1, the KRZ may include information on natural persons, legal persons, and organizational units that are not legal persons, to which the law grants legal capacity – against which restructuring or bankruptcy proceedings are or have been conducted. Additionally, it includes entities that are insolvent or threatened with insolvency.

A separate category is natural persons against whom enforcement of maintenance payments and enforcement of state budget receivables arising from benefits paid in the event of the ineffectiveness of enforcement of maintenance are pending, and who are in arrears with the fulfillment of these benefits for a period longer than three months.

Therefore, mind that not all debtors are eligible for the National Debtors Register.

National Register  of Debtors – data deletion

Entities, legal and natural persons, whose personal data appeared in KRZ, will not be able to submit an application or petition with a request to delete the data. In this case, the conditions explicitly stated in the act apply again.

The main rule is that the debtor’s data automatically cease to be disclosed after 10 years from the date of the final termination or discontinuation of the proceedings. However, additional terms and conditions apply and modify this period. These include:

• legally approved arrangement:
  • for 3 years from the date on which the decision on the performance of the arrangement becomes final, or
  • for 10 years from the date on which the decision on the repeal of the agreement becomes final or the agreement expires by operation of law;
• legally-established creditors’ repayment plan or automatic redemption:
  • for 3 years from the date on which the decision on the performance of the creditors’ repayment plan has become final, and the debtor’s liabilities have been remitted or the liabilities have been canceled without establishing a creditors’ repayment plan, or
  • for 10 years from the date on which the decision to revoke the creditors’ repayment plan becomes final;
• legally valid conditional cancellation of the bankrupt’s liability without establishing a creditors repayment plan:
  • for 3 years from the expiry of the period of 5 years from the date on which the decision on conditional redemption of the debtor’s liabilities becomes legally binding, without establishing a repayment plan for creditors, or
  • for 10 years from the date on which the decision to repeal the decision on conditional redemption of the debtor’s liabilities becomes final without establishing a creditors’ repayment plan;
• final and binding decision prohibiting business activity:
  • for 3 years from the day following the end of the prohibition period.

Information contained in KRZ

The scope of information contained in the National Register of Debtors is expressed directly in the content of the Law. In addition to basic data – which include: name and surname or company name, address, place of residence, NIP number, PESEL number, or KRS number – the register will also contain more advanced information, such as:

• determining whether the bankrupt is a natural person who does not conduct business activity;
• name of the court conducting the proceedings;
• case file reference number;
• information on securing the debtor’s assets;
• information on the final dismissal of the bankruptcy petition;
• information on approval of the terms of sale under the procedure of prepared liquidation and consideration of the application for the waiver or amendment of the provision approving the terms of sale;
• information on the declaration of bankruptcy, initiation of secondary bankruptcy proceedings, opening of restructuring proceedings, and their type.

National Register of Debtors – how to use it?

Access to the KRZ kept by the Ministry of Finance will be free and unlimited (meaning it will not require an additional account). The information provided shows that the website will offer the ability to search for records using one of the following criteria:

• debtor’s PESEL number,
• the debtor’s tax identification number,
• reference number of the case file to which the debtor was a party (bankruptcy, restructuring, or alimony proceedings).

Information on natural persons, companies, and organizational units with legal capacity may be entered into the Register if provided by courts and bailiffs under the statutory conditions (never by creditors, even at their direct request). After a specified period (which is described in detail below), the personal data of debtors will be removed from the KRZ.