GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ovvadias S. Namias, Vasileios Petropoulos, Ilias Spyropoulos and Emmanouil Apostolakis, Ovvadias S. Namias Law Firm
Greece to investment grade. The investment pillars of this plan are the following: (a) green energy in the context of climate change and the energy crisis; (b) digitalisation, co-ordination and intercon - nection of public services; (c) large infrastructural works, such as en - largement of the U-ban network, high - ways, underwater electrical connection between the islands; and (d) the already-announced investments of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Pfizer (in Thessaloniki), Volkswagen (green island in Astypalaia), Digital realty, Royal sugar, and of course Hellinikon (about EUR8 billion), among others, are of symbolic impor - tance. • In addition, circumstances are favourable for Greece, as stagnant global capital is looking for attractive investment areas, regardless of the fact that such areas may have high levels of public debt. Furthermore, the resurgence of American corporations must be included. • Thus, the question now arises as to what extent the foregoing considerations can be linked to the topic of intra-corporate investi - gations. It goes without saying that the ambi - tious development and infrastructure projects mentioned will be taken over by large, inter - national groups with the “know-how” and necessary experience in the areas concerned. It is also understandable that, as far as the economic situation in Greece in the coming years is concerned, these groups will come to the fore. Since such groups are very familiar with the concept, benefits and practice of internal investigations – at least in compari - son with small, medium or larger companies in Greece – and since such investigations are considered part of corporate governance, it is to be expected that their active presence will accelerate the adoption of this practice in the
Greek market in general. It is quite clear that new Law 4706/2020 on corporate governance will be supplemented, either as a mandatory introduction of investigations in companies by an external, independent body (mainly in the case of listed companies) or as a general, voluntary practice on the part of the compa - nies, which will reap the benefits. In a corpo - rate world in which both the authorities and companies are becoming increasingly familiar with the benefits of internal investigations, it is safe to expect that, on the one hand, the corporations themselves will voluntarily have such investigations carried out by independ - ents, such as law firms or audit firms, to clar - ify unlawful internal corporate actions; and, on the other hand, the authorities themselves will be keen to entrust law firms or audit firms with the task. As already described, this was the case with the Folli-Follie, MLS, Siemens, Novartis and Atlas proceedings. • The activity of international companies in Greece may result in the application of not only Greek but also foreign administrative and/or criminal provisions, such as those included in the German Administrative Offences Act (OWiG), the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which encourage (and reward) the conduct of an internal investigation. • Last, but not least, conducting a quality internal investigation at an early stage of criminal proceedings can make a significant contribution to speeding up the administra - tion of justice. This is because, as experience has repeatedly demonstrated in a number of cases, having a targeted internal investigation conducted by a team of experienced profes - sionals (criminal lawyers) early on significantly reduces the risk of serious deficiencies in evidence and in the structure and substan - tiation of accusations, which can result in
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