GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Stefanos Charaktiniotis, Danai Falconaki, Stathis Orfanoudakis and Nadia Axioti, Zepos & Yannopoulos
2.4 Antitrust Regulations Greek antitrust legislation reflects EU competi - tion law principles, namely Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Europe - an Union and the respective European merger control rules. Law 3959/2011 prohibits certain business agreements whose object or effect is the restriction of free competition as well as the abuse of a dominant position. The HCC is entrusted with monitoring adherence to the national framework. Notification obligations are triggered in the event of contemplated concentrations (ie, changes of control on a lasting basis, such as mergers, acquisitions of control, etc). In particular, in order to qualify for notification to the HCC, a concen - tration must cumulatively: • meet the turnover thresholds specified in Article 6 (1) of Law 3959/2011, ie, the total turnover of the parties to the concentration in the worldwide market must exceed EUR150 million, and at least two of the undertakings concerned must have a turnover exceeding EUR15 million each in the national market; and • not be otherwise subject to merger control by the European Commission, ie, it must not meet the European dimension requirement under EU Regulation 139/2004. Concentrations meeting the above criteria must be notified to the HCC within 30 days from the date of the relevant “triggering event” , such as the conclusion of the agreement giving rise to the concentration. 2.5 Labour Law Regulations The main labour law considerations relating to Greek M&A transactions usually arise in busi - ness transfers and the protection of employees’
to the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), and the parties involved must abstain from consummating the transaction until it has been cleared by the HCC. In addition, depending on the type of M&A trans - action, the following regulatory bodies may need to be involved in the process: • the Bank of Greece, as regards financial and credit institutions (or the European Central Bank as regards the Greek systemic banks) and insurance companies; • the Greek Ministry of Development, if a corporate transformation involves an entity of public interest, or an entity in receipt of an operation licence from the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC), or otherwise when specifically provided for in the law; • the HCMC, as regards listed entities, invest - ment firms and any other entities supervised by it; • the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Waste and Water; and • the Hellenic Gaming Commission. 2.3 Restrictions on Foreign Investments The laws in Greece generally encourage and facilitate foreign investment, with limited restric - tions on foreign control or ownership and no sector-specific restrictions. Greece limits for - eign ownership of real estate located in certain regions designated as border areas; however, it does not yet have a formal Foreign Direct Invest - ment (FDI) screening mechanism in place. Fol - lowing the adoption of the EU FDI Screening Regulation, a new bill on the implementation of the EU FDI Screening Regulation has been introduced and is expected to be passed in the near future establishing a formal FDI screening mechanism in Greece.
754 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook