GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Paris Tzoumas, Vivian Efthymiou and Dimitrios Mekakas, Zepos & Yannopoulos
Timing and Cost Estimates According to Law 4261 the BoG/ECB must revert to the applicant with a decision (ie, to grant or refuse the licensing application) within six months from receipt of the application, which may be extended to within 12 months of receipt of the application. No fees are required to be paid by the applicant for the submission of the application to the BoG. However, applicants should take into account the fees paid to legal counsel and financial/tech - nical advisers, as well as their participation in the deposit guarantee scheme. Any natural person or legal entity (or persons acting in concert) that has decided either to acquire, directly or indirectly, a qualifying hold - ing in a credit institution (ie, at least 10% of the share capital or of the voting rights) or to further increase, directly or indirectly, such a qualifying holding in a credit institution as a result of which the proportion of the voting rights or of the capi - tal held would reach or exceed 20%, 33.33% (one-third), or 50%, or so that the credit institu - tion would become its subsidiary, must notify the BoG in advance in accordance with the qualify - ing holding process set out in Law 4261. Documents Required The proposed acquirer must submit a notifica - tion to the BoG accompanied by certain ques - tionnaires and required supporting documents in relation to the persons/entities that will acquire (directly or indirectly) a qualifying holding in the credit institution. In certain cases, a business 3. Changes in Control 3.1 Requirements for Acquiring or Increasing Control Over a Bank Requirement to Notify the BoG
takings, financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies within the group. The programme of operation must include a three-year business plan with the scope of work, the timetable for achieving the objectives of the credit institution, the struc - ture of the group to which it belongs and the framework of the internal control functions, including the internal audit, risk management and compliance functions and procedures required for compliance with its organisational obligations. • “Fit and proper assessment” with respect to the BoD members and the key function hold - ers. • Information on shareholders with holdings exceeding 1% and questionnaires for assess - ing the persons/entities holding a qualifying holding. • The funding sources and forecast balance sheet, income statement and cash flow state - ment. • The anticipated course of the capital adequa - cy ratio during the first three years of opera - tion of the credit institution, indicating the underlying method of risk assessment and measurement, in accordance with the appli - cable supervisory framework. • Policies and procedures (including an AML policy, conflict of interest policy, compliance policy, outsourcing policy, IT policies, etc). Following the BoG’s assessment of the licensing application, the BoG proceeds to the submis - sion of a proposal (ie, a draft decision) to the ECB, which takes the final decision. Otherwise, if the BoG considers that the requirements have not been met, the BoG will reject the licensing request.
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