GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Panagiotis (Notis) Sardelas, Matina Kagkelari and Anna Zlatoudi, Sardelas Petsa Law Firm
of different types of pledges, namely notional pledge (ie, pledge over movable property with - out delivery of the encumbered items to the pledgee), pledge on registered financial instru - ments, pledge on claims (with the exception of claims arising from bank accounts of the pledgor, where the pledgee is the account bank in which such accounts are maintained), and rights, with a unified electronic registry, aiming to facilitate financial transactions, to safeguard the safety of transactions and provide public access to a uni - fied registry. The operation of the new registry will start on 30 June 2025.. Following the entry into force of the relevant pro - visions of Greek Law 5123/2024, the summary of the transfer (assignment) agreement and of the servicing agreement under a securitisation transaction will be registered with the new sin - gle electronic registry which will be operated by the Hellenic Cadastre. Agreements effected and registered before the effecting date do not need to be re-registered in the new electronic pledge registry. It should be noted that the introduction of the new registry could, in practice, also result in an increase of the servicing costs (as pledges that secure transferred/serviced claims need to be registered with the registry). The registration costs are expected to be determined by a Hel - lenic Cadastre decision. Digital duty on transactions Greek Law 5135/2024 abolishes stamp duty, which was replaced by a new duty imposed on transactions from 1 December 2024 onwards, called “Digital Duty on Transactions” (in Greek “ Ψηφιακό Τέλος Συναλλαγής ”). The new Law did not affect the tax duty exemptions provid - ed by Greek Law 3156/2003 on securitisation transactions, but certain of its provisions may be
considered applicable in parallel. For example, according to Article 8, paragraph 2 of Greek Law 5135/2024 the digital duty is not imposed on loans (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any agreements for the restructuring of an old loan) in cases where, among others, (i) the lender is a financial institution or a servicer, licensed and/or supervised by the Bank of Greece; (ii) the loan is a bond loan under Greek Law 4548/2018; and/ or (iii) the lender is a foreign credit institution. On the other hand, certain activities that may be performed by servicers, such as establishing of pledges, write-offs and legal actions, are cap - tured by the Law and are subject to the respec - tive digital duty. Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Law Greece has recently adopted the implementing measures of the EU DLT Pilot Regime, which was introduced under Regulation (EU) 2022/858. More specifically, Greek Law 5113/2024 (the DLT Law), published on 21 June 2024, has intro - duced a legal framework for financial instru - ments (within the meaning of MiFID II) issued through DLT. The DLT Law explicitly recognises that Greek sociétés anonymes (companies limit - ed by shares) can issue digital securities (includ - ing securitised bonds) through DLT, which can be listed on a stock exchange or other relevant trading venue. DLT financial instruments may be registered on DLT market infrastructures or central securities repositories. It should also be noted that the DLT Law does not adopt the limi - tations of Regulation (EU) 2022/858, as to the financial instruments falling within its scope. Despite the still limited use of blockchain in Greece, the DLT Law is seeking to provide for legal certainty in this evolving sector, by setting rules on the transfer of DLT financial instruments and the exercise of rights attached to them. However, as the legal issues that arise under the
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