The primary provisions with regards to anti-bribery and anti-corruption are contained in the Greek Penal Code and include:

• Article 235, which punishes passive bribery;
• Article 236, which punishes active bribery;
• Article 237, which punishes both active and passive bribery involving members of the judiciary;
• Article 237A, which punishes trading in influence;
• Article 238, which provides for the confiscation of the gift; and
• Article 159, which provides for the criminalization of bribery (both active as well as passive) of Parliament members and local representatives.

The most significant enactment that has been adopted in the last ten years in terms of anti-corruption law appears to be the implementation of Directive (EU) 2015/849 into the Greek legal framework ("Law 4557/2018") on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (“4th AML Directive”), replacing the majority of the previous Anti-Money Laundering legislation. 

Greece has implemented the 4th AML Directive with Law 4557/2018 (the “Law”), which came to effect on July 30, 2018. According to the Law, all Greek legal entities are required to disclose details of their ultimate beneficial owners to the Central UBO Register to be created with the General Secretary of Information Systems of the Ministry of Finance.

The 5th EU Directive on the prevention and suspension of money laundering, which has been transposed into the Greek legislation by Law 4734/2020, has brought major changes to the business environment. Through its extended scope and additional provisions, it imposes greater transparency through intensive research on transactions executed along with high-risk (“red-flagged”) countries and by using virtual currencies.

The ultimate beneficial owner (“UBO”) is defined as (i) any natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls a client, namely a legal entity or a legal arrangement, through direct or indirect ownership or control of a sufficient percentage of shares or through control via other means; and (ii) any natural person(s) on whose behalf a transaction or activity is conducted. A direct or indirect shareholding or ownership interest exceeding 25 percent in a non-listed company by a natural person constitutes evidence that the natural person(s) under question controls the respective company. Indirect control may exist when a natural person holds the above shareholding or ownership interest through one or more legal entities that such person controls. Control may also exist through other means such as through a shareholders' agreement, the exercise of dominant influence or the power to appoint senior management (in line with the criteria of control in the Greek Accounting Standards). In the event that no natural person can be identified as a UBO or if there are doubts about the UBO identified, the natural person(s) who holds the position of highest management executive of the legal entity (i.e. responsible for decision making which affects the exposure of the legal entity to money laundering, even if he/she is not a member of the Board of Directors) is deemed as the UBO. Companies listed on a regulated market, which are subject to disclosure requirements under EU law or equivalent international standards which ensure sufficient transparency of ownership information, are exempt from UBO requirements. As regards trusts, the UBO is deemed to be (i) the settlor; (ii) the trustee(s); (iii) the protector, if any; (iv) the beneficiaries, or where the individuals benefiting from the legal arrangement or entity have yet to be determined, the class of persons in whose main interest the legal arrangement or entity is set up or operates; or (v) any other natural person exercising ultimate control over the trust by means of direct or indirect ownership or by other means. In case of foundations and legal arrangements similar to trusts, the UBO is deemed to be natural person(s) who are in an equivalent or similar position as the persons referred to on trusts. 

All corporate and legal entities with registered offices in Greece are required to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and current information on their UBO particularly pertaining at least to: 

• their name and surname; 
• their date of birth; 
• their nationality; 
• their country of residence; and
• the nature and extent of beneficial interest held therein. 

The aforementioned information (the “Information”) should be recorded in a special register kept at the registered offices of such legal entity and shall be registered through taxisnet with a central UBO Register to be created with the General Secretary of Information Systems of the Ministry of Finance (“Central UBO Register”) within 60 days following the date that the Central UBO Register will become effective. The Central UBO Register must be fully effective by January 31, 2019.

In the event that legal entities do not comply with the Information obligation, they face the following administrative sanctions: 

• Suspension of issuance of a tax clearance certificate; and
• Imposition of a euro 10,000 administrative fine and of a deadline for compliance with the above obligations. If the legal entities fail to comply or in case of repetition, the aforementioned fine is doubled.

Information is linked with the Tax Registration Number of each legal entity. The Central UBO Register may also be connected to the Greek Chamber of Commerce and the Securities Depositories. The Information kept in the Central UBO Register is accessible to: 

• the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Authority, and other competent authorities such as the Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, without any restriction; 
• the obliged entities (including all credit and financial institutions) and any other competent authority, within the framework of customer due diligence; and 
• any person or organization that can demonstrate a legitimate interest upon application. 

An exemption to access may be provided by the Ministry of Finance to all or part of the Information on beneficial ownership on a case-by-case basis in exceptional circumstances, where such access would expose the beneficial owner to risk of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, violence or intimidation, or where the beneficial owner is a minor or with no legal capacity.

Besides L. 4557/2018, another important recent adaptation to the Greek jurisdiction is that of Law 3978/2011 (Government Gazette Issue A’ No. 137/16.06.2011), which transposed in the Greek legal system Directive 2009/81/EC “on the coordination of procedures for the award of certain work contracts, supply contracts and service contracts by contracting authorities or entities in the fields of defense and security”. Besides the transposition of the provisions of the aforementioned EU Directive, Law 3978/2011 introduced also a number of rules aiming to enhance and ensure transparency and combating corruption in the field of procurement of defense-related projects.
 

Under Greek Law, both passive and active bribery of public officials is prohibited pursuant to Arts.235 and 236 of the Greek Penal Code (hereinafter "GPC") respectively. Moreover, Art. 237 GPC criminalizes both the active as well as the passive bribery of judges and arbitrators while Art. 238 GPC provides for the confiscation of the gift and Art.159 GPC for the criminalization of bribery (both active as well as passive) of Parliament members and local representatives. Disciplinary sanctions against public servants are furthermore provided for by Art.107 para.1 (xvii) of the Civil Servant's Code (hereinafter "CSC"). 

Yes, bribing a foreign government official is prohibited by a series of instruments, including:

• Arts.2, 3 Law 2656/1998 ratifying the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions;
• Art.4 Law 2802/2000  ratifying the Convention on the Fight Against Corruption Involving Officials of the European Communities or Officials of Member States of the European Union;
• Arts.3, 4 Law 2803/2000  ratifying the Convention on the Protection of the European Communities' Financial Interests;
• Arts.3, 4, 6 Law 3560/2007  ratifying the CoE Criminal Law Convention on Corruption; and
• Arts, 5 Law 3666/2008 ratifying the UN Convention Against Corruption and amending the relevant Provisions of the GPC. 

Yes. Both active and passive bribery is prohibited under Art. 235 and Art.236 GPC respectively. It should be noted that symbolic gifts or gifts of courtesy do not qualify as bribery.

The legislation applies to both domestic and foreign public officials as well as individuals or entities in the private sector.

More specifically, in terms of domestic public entities, these laws are deemed applicable also to dealings with employees or officials of domestic government-owned or controlled business entities, provided mainly the rather broad notion of “public official” in national law. According to Art. 235 (passive bribery of public servant) and 236 (active bribery of public servant) of GPC on bribery of a public servant, public servants are considered the public servants, the heads of Public Authorities, the Inspectors or other persons which have the power to take decisions in Public Authorities and officials or other officials with any contractual relationship or body of the European Union regardless of having its head office in Greece and any public international or supranational body in which Greece is a member. Furthermore under Article 235, as last amended by virtue of Law 4855/2021 regarding passive bribery, public servants are defined as any person seconded or not, who performs duties corresponding to those performed by officials or other officials, even if the passive bribery and the active bribery are not punishable actions under the Criminal law of the country in which they were performed.

The provisions of passive bribery are also applicable if the act of bribery is conducted by a public servant of a foreign country, in Greece.

In addition, under the Art. 159 and 159A of the GPC as last amended by virtue of Law 4855/2021, the offenses of active and passive bribery of Parliament members and local representatives are also punished when they are committed by the Prime Minister, member of the Government or Vice Minister of another country.

Under Greek law, there is no corporate criminal liability. Legal entities are only subject to regulatory sanctions of an administrative nature. 

Recent legal texts are considered shy attempts to introduce corporate criminal liability. Alternative criminal sentencing is threatened through administrative sanctions (revocation of operation license, debarment) and pecuniary fines ranging from EUR 10,000 up to EUR 3 million that can, theoretically, be imposed on legal entities when the violation concerns specific legal fields such as financing organized crime or the protection of adolescents.

To the extent that a category of criminal offenses falls within the scope of application of laws regarding corruption of foreign public officials, active and passive bribery in the private sector and legalization of proceeds deriving from criminal activities, the regulatory liability of a legal entity can, theoretically, be engaged. For instance, the Bank of Greece acting as the supervisory authority of the Banking sector as regards money laundering may impose administrative sanctions against Banks, subsidiaries or representing offices. 

Such regulatory liability of the legal entity is independent of the eventual criminal liability of natural persons under the same law.
 

The provisions mentioned above trigger punishment ranging from five to ten years of imprisonment if the total value of the benefits exceeds the threshold of EUR 73,000 and regardless of whether the gift has been offered or agreed prior or posterior to the public servant’s action. If the value exceeds EUR 73,000 the crime is considered to be felonious.

Furthermore pursuant to Art. 238 GPC gifts granted further to Articles 235, 236 and 237 GPC are subject to public confiscation.

In addition: 

• Under Art. 107 para. 1(xvii) of the Civil Servant's Code (CSC), the acceptance (by the civil servant) of any material benefit or consideration, offered by any person whose affairs the civil servant handles or is going to handle in the course of the exercise of his duties, is a disciplinary offense. By virtue of Law 1608/1950 regarding financial offenses against the Greek State, certain criminal activities including the abovementioned ones can be upgraded to felonies, if the prejudice caused to the Greek State or the perpetrator’s profit exceeds the amount of EUR 146,000. Possible sanctions can include life imprisonment if aggravating circumstances such as “long period of time in which several acts are committed” are sustained by the court.
• By virtue of Law 3023/2002 a penalty of imprisonment ranging from ten days to two years as well as a pecuniary fine ranging from EUR 150 to EUR 30,000 is threatened against any individual who, either as a payer or as a recipient, is found guilty of illegal funding of political parties or candidate members of the Greek Parliament.
• By virtue of Law 3074/2002 (as amended by Art.6 of Law 3491/2006 in Art.1) regarding financial offenses committed by public officials, procedural safeguards along with special provisions allowing for the acceleration of criminal procedure when a public official is involved were introduced.
• By virtue of Law 3213/2003 (in its Art. 5 para 1 as added and amended by Art. 3 L. 3849/2010) any individual who demands, receives or accepts promises of financial exchange (“kick-back”) is threatened with a penalty of imprisonment ranging from two to five years and a pecuniary fine ranging from EUR 15,000 to EUR 750,000. Under para 2, if the value of the exchange exceeds EUR 73,000 a penalty of incarceration ranging from five to ten years and a pecuniary fine ranging from EUR 30,000 to EUR 1,500,000 are threatened.
• Pursuant to Art. 235 GPC the passive bribery of public servants punished with imprisonment from ten days to five years as well as to an obligatory monetary penalty from Euro 360 to Euro 36,000. In case the perpetrator acted by way of profession or is a habitual offender, the penalty is imprisonment from three to five years and an obligatory monetary penalty ranging from EUR 360 to EUR 36,000.
• If the above act or omission goes against the perpetrator’s duties, then the perpetrator is sentenced to incarceration from five to ten years, as well as to an obligatory monetary penalty between EUR 360 and EUR 36,000
• If the above violation is repeated, the perpetrator is convicted with incarceration from five to fifteen years and obligatory monetary penalty ranging from EUR 1 to EUR 100,000
• Article 236 of the GPC as amended by virtue of Law 4855/2021, punishes active bribery with imprisonment ranging from ten days to five years. In case the requested act or omission violated the public officials’ duties the relevant penalty is incarceration from five to eight years, as well as an obligatory monetary penalty between EUR 360 and EUR 36,000.

As mentioned, under Greek criminal law there is no criminal liability reserved for legal entities. However, legal entities may bear certain regulatory liability under L. 3560/2007, L. 3666/2008 and L. 4557/2018.

Compliance procedures are indeed an effective way for corporate entities to battle corrupt practices and prevent bribery. Transparency, regular audits, internal control procedures and regular reviews of those procedures and employees’ exposure to such, are a few strategies that can stipulate an effective corporate compliance program. However, although such programs can eliminate corruption and bribery risks to a great extent, under no circumstances can they prevent the occurrence of such incidents, nor do they serve as a means of defense to eliminate the liability following such cases.

Art. 263B of the Greek Penal Code provides leniency measures available to perpetrators of bribery (both active and passive). However, when it comes to legal entities, there is no such provision under the Greek jurisdiction. It is possible, however, to the discretionary powers of the authorities, to choose which penalties will be applied and grant the minimum available fine (with or without other penalties).