When a Polish real estate asset, machinery, or receivable is pledged as collateral by a foreign holding entity, the security chain runs across at least two legal systems. The Polish land register shows the mortgage. It does not show who controls the mortgagor. Establishing that second layer requires crossing into the foreign entity's home jurisdiction — with its own access rules, its own language, and its own disclosure ceiling.
- What the Polish land register shows
- Mortgage holder, mortgage amount, and ranking. Source: Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW), Ministry of Justice · verified 2026-06-26
- What EKW does not show
- Identity or ownership structure of the mortgagor entity if that entity is incorporated abroad.
- What the Polish company register shows
- Branch registrations of foreign entities operating in Poland. Source: Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (KRS) · verified 2026-06-26
- What KRS does not show
- The ownership chain above the registered branch; that chain lives in the home-jurisdiction register.
- Beneficial ownership
- Polish CRBR discloses UBOs of Polish legal entities. A foreign parent entity is not itself a CRBR subject; its own UBO register rules apply in its home state.
Why the collateral chain matters before a transaction closes
A lender or buyer accepting a Polish asset as security needs to verify three things: that the asset is unencumbered beyond the declared mortgage, that the entity granting the security has authority to do so, and that no insolvency or enforcement proceeding already affects either the asset or the grantor. Each of those three checks draws from a different register — and the foreign-entity structure adds a fourth layer that no Polish register addresses.
The collateral angle is not the same as a title check. A title check asks who owns the asset. A collateral check asks what already burdens it, whether the grantor's authority is intact, and whether the grantor is itself a distressed entity whose disposal of assets may be challenged. All three questions require source documents, not representations.
What Polish registers cover — and where they stop
The Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW) is the primary source for real property encumbrances. It records mortgages by amount and rank, easements, and third-party rights. The register is publicly searchable by land book number. It does not record pledges over movables or receivables — those appear in the Rejestr Zastawów (RZ), maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
The Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (KRS) records registered pledges over enterprise assets and contains the statutory documents of Polish entities, including any branch of a foreign company registered to operate in Poland. KRS filings include the most recent financial statements for entities obliged to file them.
The Rejestr Należności Publicznoprawnych (RNP) and the Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) cover tax arrears and insolvency filings respectively. A negative result in KRZ does not exclude a petition filed and not yet processed.
| Register | What it covers | Covers foreign entity directly? | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| EKW | Real property mortgages, easements, third-party rights | Shows mortgagor by name; does not show who controls the mortgagor | Public, searchable by land book number |
| Rejestr Zastawów (RZ) | Registered pledges over movables and receivables | Pledge over Polish asset is recorded regardless of pledgor's domicile | Public, searchable by pledgor name or PESEL/NIP |
| KRS | Corporate filings, branch registrations, financial statements | Branch only; parent entity's structure not recorded | Public, electronic |
| CRBR | Ultimate beneficial owners of Polish legal entities | Polish subsidiary only; foreign parent not a CRBR subject | Public |
| KRZ | Insolvency and restructuring proceedings | Polish proceedings only; foreign proceedings not recorded here | Public |
| RNP | Public-law arrears (tax, social insurance) | Polish tax obligations only | Public, searchable by NIP |
The foreign-entity layer: where Polish registers end
When the mortgagor or pledgor is a foreign entity — a Luxembourg SARL, a Dutch BV, a Cyprus limited company — the Polish registers record the encumbrance on the Polish asset but say nothing about the grantor's own legal condition. Whether that entity is in insolvency proceedings in its home state, whether its directors have authority to grant security, whether its own assets are pledged to a senior creditor: none of that appears in any Polish register.
Accessing those facts requires a query to the home-jurisdiction register. Each jurisdiction has its own access conditions. Some registers are freely searchable in English. Others require a local identifier, a registered-user account, or a declaration of legitimate interest. Some registers do not disclose directors' authority documents at all without a notarised request. The access path — not the underlying fact — is often the operative obstacle for a foreign verifier.
The report at each tier documents what the home-jurisdiction register discloses, what it withholds, and what the access condition is. Where the chain cannot be followed further, the report states that explicitly — the level at which it stops and the reason.
The limit of what the sources allow
Polish registers establish encumbrances on the Polish asset and the formal identity of the grantor. They do not establish the grantor's authority, solvency, or ownership structure if the grantor is incorporated abroad. That information lives in the home-jurisdiction register and is subject to that jurisdiction's access rules.
CRBR records the UBOs of Polish legal entities. A foreign entity that holds a Polish asset through a Polish subsidiary will appear in CRBR at the subsidiary level. The foreign parent entity's own UBO register — if one exists — is governed by CJEU case law on member-state UBO register access and by each state's implementing rules. The report identifies which register applies and what the current access condition is, without guaranteeing that the register will disclose the full chain.
Where the home-jurisdiction register is a level-2 or level-3 source — meaning the access condition cannot be met remotely or the register does not publish the relevant document class — the report states that condition and does not substitute an inference for a missing source document.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €290 | EKW extract for the identified property (mortgage rank, amount, holder). Rejestr Zastawów search on the grantor entity. KRS filing check for Polish branch or subsidiary. KRZ insolvency check on the Polish entity. Written summary of findings in English. | No review of home-jurisdiction register. No CRBR beneficial ownership trace. No review of grantor's authority documents. No RNP tax-arrears check. No analysis of prior disposals. |
| Standard | €470 | Everything in Signal. CRBR beneficial ownership extract for any Polish entity in the chain. RNP public-arrears check. Home-jurisdiction register query: entity status, filing currency, and — where the register discloses — directors and authority documents. Written summary identifying where the chain continues and where it stops. | No review of home-jurisdiction insolvency register (separate query). No review of pledge registers in the home jurisdiction. No review of financial statements beyond what the home-jurisdiction register publishes. No opinion on the legal effect of findings. |
| Extended | €960 | Everything in Standard. Home-jurisdiction insolvency register check. Review of available financial statements (home-jurisdiction filing, if publicly accessible). Pledge or charge register search in home jurisdiction where a register exists and is accessible. Identification of any disclosed cross-border enforcement or attachment. Structured findings table mapping each source, what it showed, what it withheld, and the access condition applied. | No legal opinion. No qualification of findings under Polish or foreign law. No review of documents not in public registers. No review of third-party agreements not filed with a register. |
How the report is structured
Each report opens with a source map: the registers queried, the date of each query, and the access condition applied. Findings follow register by register. Where a register returned a positive result — an encumbrance, a filing, an arrears entry — the relevant extract is reproduced. Where a register returned no result, the scope of that register is stated so the reader can assess what a negative result means.
The final section identifies the chain's terminus: the point at which no further public register covers the next link, and the reason. This is not a failure of the report — it is the report's most operationally useful output for a lender or buyer deciding whether the collateral position is verifiable.
Where the sources disagree
Discrepancies between registers are recorded as findings, not resolved editorially. A common pattern: the EKW records a mortgage in favour of a lender that the KRS filing no longer lists as a creditor. Another: the CRBR records a beneficial owner whose name does not appear in the home-jurisdiction register's disclosed shareholders. Each discrepancy is documented with the source of each conflicting entry and the date of each extract.
Frequently asked questions
Does the report cover assets other than real property?
The Signal tier covers the EKW (real property) and the Rejestr Zastawów (movables and receivables). Standard and Extended tiers cover both. The object of the pledge or mortgage is identified in the instruction; the report is scoped accordingly.
What if the foreign entity is incorporated in a jurisdiction with a closed or non-public register?
The report states that the register is closed or restricted, identifies the access condition, and records what — if anything — the register's public-facing portal discloses. No inference is drawn from a closed register. The finding is that the register does not permit verification at the level requested.
How long does the report take?
Signal: typically three to five working days. Standard and Extended: five to ten working days, depending on the home jurisdiction's register response time. Jurisdictions with manual or paper-based registers extend the timeline; this is stated in the scope confirmation before work begins.
Is a Polish NIP or KRS number required to initiate the report?
For the Polish layer: a land book number (for EKW) and the entity's name or NIP (for KRS, RZ, CRBR, KRZ, RNP). For the foreign-entity layer: the entity name and home-jurisdiction identifier if available. The report identifies what can be retrieved without a national identifier and what cannot.
Can the report be used in loan documentation?
The report is a factual compilation from official registers. It is not a legal opinion and does not constitute a due diligence certificate. Whether it satisfies a lender's documentation requirements is a question for the lender's counsel, not for this report.
Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.
Request this report
Send the land book number, the entity name, and the home jurisdiction to info@kordeckipartners.com. Scope confirmation is provided before work begins.