The article aims at presenting the development of the derivatives market in Poland in comparison to trends specific for international development of derivatives markets. The comparison demonstrates that the key factor that could unleash the significant potential for future growth of the derivatives market in Poland is extending derivatives availability and scope of their applications for enterprise investors.

Foreign enterprise investors perceive derivatives as very useful tools for managing their investment portfolio. Moreover, derivatives are used to manage risk related to changes in interest rates, FX rates and stock prices.

Of the several factors that determine the opportunities for exchange-traded derivatives market in Poland, increased demand from enterprise investors seems to be the key. Assets of insurance organizations, investment funds and pension funds continue to grow. The organizations will have more and more funds to invest on financial markets.

The regulations currently in force only allow for a very narrow scope of transactions on the futures market. Two amendments will be crucial to the development of the derivatives market: the amendment of the act on pension funds organization and operation, and the amendment of the act on investment funds. The new acts contain regulations that allow investment and pension funds to enter into transactions on the derivatives market. If the regulations come into force, there's a great chance for the Polish derivatives market to begin to grow dynamically.