The paper aims at presenting the model operational risk management system and barriers to its practical implementation on one hand, and the determinants of the implementation of operational risk management methods at the Polish banks on the other. The authors have also undertaken to evaluate the impact of the possible introduction of capital requirements for operational risk on the capital adequacy ratio in the Polish sector of commercial banks.

The selected area of research has been described and analysed in the following sections of the paper:

• The top-down and bottom-up operational risk management principles at the banks;
• Operational risk management process at the bank - from identification through to evaluation of the effectiveness of the tools for its mitigation;
• Operational risk - new supervisory approach;
• Operational risk at the Polish banks - scope and advancement level of the works related to the implementation of the comprehensive management system.

The first part of the paper presents the general principles of operational risk management at the bank (the top-down method, the bottom-up method, as well as indicator and statistical methods), while also presenting the determinants of implementation of a selected approach.

The paper describes the operational risk management process at the bank. The authors have intended to present subsequent stages of the process, in particular the identification of the operational risk as well as its quantification, and to emphasize the relation between the aforementioned components of the operational risk management.

Operational risk is the third, along the credit and market risk, component of the banking risk, which - pursuant to the New Basel Capital Accord - is to be included in the calculation of the capital adequacy. The third part of the paper analyses the solutions within the scope of operational risk quantification and its inclusion in determining the capital requirements, recommended by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The primary ratio method, the standard method, the alternative standard method and the internal measurement method have been briefly discussed, and the impact of the new regulations on the banks' operations along with selected initiatives in this regard have been presented.

The final part of the paper discusses the current status of the preparations of the Polish banking sector for the implementation of the comprehensive operational risk management systems. By way of conclusion, an attempt is made to determine the impact of possible introduction of the capital requirement for operational risk on the average capital adequacy ratio in the Polish banking sector.