GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ilias Anagnostopoulos and Alexandros Tsagkalidis, Anagnostopoulos
corporation is obliged to have an effective compliance programme in place as part of its regulation of internal operations. 8.2 Compliance Guidelines and Best Practices Following a series of amendments in tax legislation which provide for stricter rules in bookkeeping, pay - ments and money transfers, combined with changes in AML legislation, organisations are making a seri - ous effort to comply with such obligations. In addi - tion, certain industries have been more active in promoting best practices guidelines and monitoring the market. Most medium-to-large-scale businesses have an internal control programme in place, and train their employees in anti-corruption procedures on a regular basis, and, during the last three to four years, more businesses have been integrating procedures to encourage reporting of corruption (whistle-blowing). Guidance is provided by the regulating bodies of each sector (such as the Bank of Greece), which issue by- laws with the minimum requirements of compliance. 8.3 Compliance Monitorships Regulatory agencies (such as the Competition Com - mission, the Capital Market Commission and the Greek Gaming Commission) monitor the adherence of corporate entities to standards set by the relevant legal provisions in respect of matters within their com - petence. In the event of breaches, these agencies have the powers to impose administrative penalties and to forward their findings to the Prosecutor’s Office for a criminal investigation to be initiated. 9. Assessment 9.1 Assessment of the Applicable Enforced Legislation International bodies such as the OECD have generally viewed Greece’s anti-corruption legislative framework
positively, while also stressing substantial implemen - tation gaps. In particular, the OECD’s Phase 4 evalu - ation acknowledged Greek efforts such as integrating foreign bribery offenses into its national action plan and strengthening detection mechanisms, and the National Transparency Authority noted the OECD’s “positive assessment” of Greece’s compliance efforts. However, the OECD’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook emphasises that, while Greece’s regulations score well (eg, meeting about 88% of regulatory cri - teria), their practical application lags (with only about 37% of practices meeting criteria) compared to the OECD average (of 67% and 33%, respectively). More recently, Greece has introduced Law 5090/2024, which, for the first time, imposes corporate criminal liability in bribery cases — a move that aligns domes - tic law more closely with international standards. Looking ahead, one of the most significant legisla - tive developments will be the transposition of Direc - tive (EU) 2024/1260, which introduces a new tool of confiscation of unexplained wealth. This mechanism allows courts to order confiscation where the value of assets is disproportionate to a person’s lawful income, even absent full proof of the underlying predicate offence, lowering the evidentiary threshold. While this tool is intended to target organised crime, there is a risk that its scope may gradually expand, as it has happened with other forms of confiscation over the years, such as extended and non-conviction-based confiscation. If this risk is realised, it would offset the delicate balance between effective asset recovery and the protection of individual rights. The Directive’s implementation in Greece will be closely monitored, as it raises important questions regarding evidentiary standards, procedural safeguards and its relationship with existing freezing and confiscation mechanisms. The implementation of the Directive is expected to be a central issue for asset recovery in the coming years. 9.2 Likely Changes to the Applicable Legislation of the Enforcement Body
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