An investment project usually begins with establishing one’s own company in the target country. One form of establishment is the formation of a (subsidiary) company in Greece.
Legal form
When choosing the legal form, not only liability reasons but, in particular, also tax aspects must be taken into account. The classic legal forms include, alongside partnerships (OE = OHG and EE = KG), of course the corporations (AE = AG and EPE = GmbH).
Formation procedure
Since April 2011, a new formation procedure, the so-called one-stop shop procedure, has applied in Greece, under which the formation of a company in Greece has been significantly simplified. In terms of time, too, the effort involved in forming a company has been considerably reduced so that company formation can now take less time than in Germany. The procedures are thus primarily handled via the chamber of commerce, the so-called GEMI, which as a central authority is now responsible for the registration of companies formed as well as for maintaining the commercial register.
Particularities of Greek companies
It should also be emphasized that the Greek legislator has considerably reduced the required share capital for corporations. An EPE (Greek GmbH) now requires only a starting capital from €1, while the AE (Greek public limited company) now requires only a share capital of €24,000.
The new corporate form IKE
A further innovation in Greek law is the introduction of a new corporate form, the so-called private company IKE (idiotiki kefaleouchi etairia), known in other countries as a “Private Company” (P.C.). To form a private company, a minimum capital of only one euro (€1) is required. In an IKE, the members can make capital contributions, non-capital contributions or contributions in the form of guarantees / sureties. Here, too, the formation procedure under the one-stop shop is relatively simple and rapid. In practice, the formation procedure should take around 3–4 days, provided all the documents required for this have been collated.