Zakaz posiadania udziałów w spółkach handlowych – prowadzenie działalności gospodarczej przez osoby publiczne

The regulations of the Act of 21 August 1997 on limitations related to conducting businesses by persons who perform public functions, comprise a set or anti-corruption provisions. One of them sets out that it is forbidden to own more than 10 per cent of stocks or a share that represents more than 10 per cent of the seed capital in commercial companies. A breach of this ban can result in termination of the mandate or termination of employment without notice, with consequences set out in Article 52 of the Labour Code. The article presents the scope of the said ban, as well as the application of sanctions for breaching this ban. Although ratio legis of the legal solutions is to prevent situations that might tempt to abuse public functions, the analysis made shows that this aim has not been achieved. Moreover, it seems that the regulation currently in force does not provide for too many situations in which a conflict of interest may appear (understood as financial interest in the company performance). The bans introduced have been analysed as for their compliance with the Constitution of Poland. Although they are compliant with the Constitution, some court rulings modify, on the basis of concrete situations, sanctions applied for breaches of anti-corruption acts.