GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ioannis Charalampopoulos, Daphne Kasimati, Afroditi Kazani and Ioanna Exarchou, Machas & Partners
in loan or credit agreements. An exception would be the maximum default interest rate charged by credit institutions, which cannot exceed 2.5% per annum of the contractual interest. For credit granted by non-bank institutions, the con- tractual and default interest rate should align with the reference rate determined by the Bank of Greece. A noteworthy point is that Law 3259/2004 establishes a limitation on the overall outstanding debt in such agreements. Specifically, the total outstanding debt arising from any form of loan or credit agreement with a credit institution may not exceed three times the amount of the capital originally drawn down for each loan or credit agreement. This threshold applies to the aggregate sum of the capital drawn down across all agreements in cases involving multiple loans or cred- its. For current revolving accounts, the limit is set at three times the debt amount as it stood at the time of the last disbursement. 3.11 Disclosure Requirements In Greece, certain financial contracts are subject to mandatory disclosure requirements, particularly for entities involved in public markets or under regula- tory supervision and subject to the size and purpose of the financial contract. Listed companies must comply with capital market disclosure requirements, which include disclosure obligations for financial reporting, including annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports. Additionally, sig- nificant shareholding changes must be disclosed to the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC). Credit institutions must meet additional requirements, which demand disclosure of holdings above certain levels, particularly if these holdings can influence management decisions.
of the credit, the type of lender, and the specific terms of the agreements. Interest payments made under bond loans to foreign entities or Greek non-banking institutions are gener- ally subject to a withholding tax at a rate of 15%. As an exception, interest payments on bond loans made to credit institutions are exempt from withholding tax. Pursuant to the provisions of Law 5193/2025, with- holding tax in respect of the income after 11 April 2025 from listed corporate bonds, acquired by private indi- viduals who are tax residents of Greece, was reduced to 5%. 4.2 Other Taxes, Duties, Charges or Tax Considerations Digital transaction duties, corporate income tax, real estate transfer tax and VAT, besides withholding tax, may be relevant to lenders making loans or taking security from entities incorporated in Greece. In par- ticular, loans made in Greece, except for those granted by Greek banking institutions or branches of foreign banking institutions operating in Greece, are subject to digital transaction (formerly referred to as stamp duty). The applicable rate is 2.4% for loans between natural persons or between natural and legal persons, and 3.6% for loans between legal persons. Also, there is the special levy imposed by Law 128/1975, which applies to loans provided by finan- cial institutions operating in Greece or abroad (except bond loans). It is also worth mentioning the real estate transfer tax, which is triggered if a common facility is secured by real estate. In addition, mortgages and pledges require registration, which is subject to a reg- istration fee currently set at approximately 0.8% of the secured amount, along with notary and registra- tion fees. In contrast, for bond loan transactions, a reduced flat registration fee of EUR100 per security interest applies. 4.3 Foreign Lenders or Non-Money Centre Bank Lenders Tax concerns can be mitigated by properly structuring the transaction. The parties may structure the financ- ing in the form of a bond loan, which benefits from exemptions with respect to stamp duty (now Digital Transaction Duty) and the levy of Law 128/1975.
4. Tax 4.1 Withholding Tax
The tax treatment of interest payments and related financial transactions varies depending on the nature
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