Verified 15 June 2026 — I’ve bought Polish stocks, including NewConnect names, through Interactive Brokers. The local-broker routes below are researched, not personally tested.
Short answer
Poland is easy — one of the most accessible markets in this directory. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW / Giełda Papierów Wartościowych) sits on a classification line — FTSE Russell upgraded Poland to Developed in 2018 (the first Central/Eastern European country promoted), while MSCI still classifies it as Emerging — but either way it’s an EU exchange in zloty (PLN) with no capital controls, and every mainstream international broker carries it: Interactive Brokers, DEGIRO, Saxo, EXANTE — and XTB, which is itself a Polish company listed on the GPW. No local account, no special steps. If you only want diversified exposure, the US-listed iShares MSCI Poland ETF (EPOL) holds the whole market in one line.
The local market (GPW)
The GPW is the largest exchange in Central and Eastern Europe, in zloty, with a deep roster of blue chips across banking, energy, mining, retail and tech:
- Banks & insurance: PKO Bank Polski, Pekao, Santander Bank Polska, PZU (insurer).
- Energy & resources: Orlen (the refining/energy giant), KGHM (one of the world’s larger copper and silver producers), PGE.
- Retail & consumer: Dino Polska (grocery), LPP (fashion — the Reserved owner), Pepco Group.
- Tech & e-commerce: Allegro (the dominant Polish marketplace), CD Projekt (the games studio behind The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077).
Liquidity is solid and the names are real, large-cap businesses — this is a proper, liquid large-cap market, not a thin frontier board.
NewConnect (the small-cap market) — and its access catch
Alongside the Main Market, the GPW runs NewConnect, its alternative trading system (ATS) for small, early-stage and growth companies — launched in 2007 and now classed as an EU SME Growth Market. Listing and disclosure rules are lighter than the Main Market, so it’s a higher-risk, thinner, more speculative board of a few hundred SMEs, some of which later graduate to the Main Market.
The catch is access. The Main Market is on every mainstream broker, but NewConnect is much narrower. Among the brokers in this directory, only Interactive Brokers reaches NewConnect — it’s the one to use for the small-cap board, and I’ve bought NewConnect names through it first-hand. DEGIRO, XTB and Lightyear are Main Market only (Saxo unconfirmed), and the Nordic brokers (Nordnet, Avanza) don’t carry it. For NewConnect, use IBKR or a local Polish broker (DM BOŚ/Bossa, mBank BM, DM PKO BP, Santander BM, ING BM). There’s no clean offshore proxy — the EPOL ETF tracks Main Market large/mid/small caps, not the NewConnect growth board.
Best practical route
| Route | What you get | Local account needed |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | Full GPW plus NewConnect — the only international broker that reaches the small-cap board; PLN, alongside your other markets | No |
| Other international brokers (DEGIRO, Saxo, EXANTE) | GPW Main Market in PLN (no NewConnect) | No |
| XTB (Polish, GPW-listed itself) | GPW Main Market, home-grown route (no NewConnect) | No (standard EU KYC) |
| US-listed ETF (EPOL) | One-line Poland Main-Market basket from any broker | No |
| A local Polish broker (DM BOŚ/Bossa, mBank BM, DM PKO BP, Santander BM, ING BM) | Full GPW + the widest NewConnect coverage + Polish bonds, PLN | Optional — mainly for deep NewConnect access |
For almost everyone the answer is “use the broker you already have” — the GPW Main Market is on IBKR, DEGIRO, Saxo, EXANTE and XTB. The distinction that matters is NewConnect, the small-cap board: among the internationals only IBKR reaches it, so it’s the pick if you want those microcaps without a local account. A local Polish broker is worth it mainly for the widest NewConnect coverage, the full domestic product set, or if you’re resident in Poland.
Offshore-listed alternatives
- iShares MSCI Poland ETF (NYSE Arca: EPOL) — the clean, liquid way to own the GPW (Orlen, PKO, PZU, KGHM, Allegro, Dino and the rest) without picking single names.
- US OTC ADRs exist for some Polish blue chips (e.g. CD Projekt, KGHM, PKO BP), but they’re thin and unnecessary given how directly the GPW itself trades — buy the Warsaw line through a mainstream broker instead.
Verdict
A large, liquid EU market that needs no clever routing: the GPW is on every serious international broker, the zloty is freely convertible, and the listed universe (Orlen, PKO, KGHM, Allegro, Dino, CD Projekt) is large-cap and liquid. Poland straddles the usual classification line — FTSE upgraded it to Developed in 2018, but MSCI still treats it as Emerging — and it earns its place in a registry that means to cover the whole world: a core European market that happens to be easy to reach. The practical answer is simply IBKR, DEGIRO, Saxo, EXANTE or XTB for direct GPW trading, or the EPOL ETF for one-line exposure. The one wrinkle worth knowing is the small-cap NewConnect board: most brokers stop at the Main Market, but IBKR reaches NewConnect too — I’ve bought NewConnect names through it first-hand — so a foreigner can hold those microcaps without a local account, while the widest NewConnect coverage still belongs to a local Polish broker.
Sources
Public sources checked (June 2026):
- Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) listings and market profile — GPW, stockanalysis.com, Wikipedia
- Poland’s FTSE Russell Developed Market upgrade (announced 2017, effective September 2018) — GPW press release, FTSE Russell, IR Magazine
- Broker coverage of the GPW (IBKR, DEGIRO, Saxo, EXANTE, XTB) — broker materials and comparison sources; for NewConnect, only IBKR reaches it among these — DEGIRO, XTB and Lightyear are Main Market only (Saxo unconfirmed), and the Nordic brokers (Nordnet, Avanza) don’t carry it
- NewConnect (GPW alternative trading system / EU SME Growth Market, launched 2007) — GPW/NewConnect materials, Wikipedia
- iShares MSCI Poland ETF (EPOL) — iShares/BlackRock fund materials