GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Paris Tzoumas, Vivian Efthymiou and Dimitrios Mekakas, Zepos & Yannopoulos
Zepos & Yannopoulos 280 Kifissias Avenue 152 32 Halandri
Athens Greece
Tel: +30 210 6967 000 Email: info@zeya.com Web: www.zeya.com
1. Legal Framework 1.1 Key Laws and Regulations The principal laws and regulations governing the Greek banking sector are the following. • Law 4261/2014 (Law 4261), implement - ing in Greece Directive 2013/36/EU (“CRD IV”), and Regulation (EU) 575/2013 (“CRR”), as amended, among others, by Regulation (EU) 2019/876 (“CRR 2”) and Regulation (EU)2024/1623 (“CRR 3”) (CRR 3 will apply from 1 January 2025). CRD IV has been amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1619 (“CRD VI”), which is to be transposed into Greek law by 10 January 2026. Law 4261 has been amended, among others, by Law 4799/2021, which transposed Directive 2019/878/EU (“CRD V”) into Greek law. Law 4261 sets out, inter alia, the provisions as regards: • the establishment, authorisation and opera - tion of credit institutions; • the EU passport procedure and the licensing requirements in relation to third-country credit institutions providing services in Greece; • the prudential supervision rules applicable to credit institutions established in Greece;
• the powers of supervisory authorities and the administrative penalties they may impose on credit institutions; • the corporate governance of credit institu - tions; and • the introduction of certain capital buffers to be maintained by credit institutions (in addi - tion to the requirements of CRR). • Law 4335/2015, as amended (Law 4335), implementing in Greece Directive 2014/59/EU (“BRRD”) on the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms. Law 4335 has been amended by law 4799/2021, which transposed, among others, Directive 2019/879/EU (“BRRD II”) into Greek law. • Law 4557/2018, as amended by Law 4734/2020 and Law 4816/2021 (the “AML Law”) setting out the anti-money launder - ing and countering the financing of terror - ism (AML/CFT) framework. The AML Law implements Directives 2015/849/EU (“4th AML Directive”), 2018/843/EU (“5th AML Directive”) and 2018/1673/EU in Greece. On 19 June 2024, the EU introduced a new legislative toolkit comprising Regulation (EU) 2024/1620, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (AMLR) and Directive (EU) 2024/1640 (“6th AML Directive”), aiming to harmonise AML/
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