[ESTABLISHING A BUSINESS ENTITY IN GREECE] 228
4.
Foreign
Investment,
Capitalisation,
If the total shareholders equity becomes less than the 1/2 of the share capital, the directors have to convene the Assembly in order to take any appropriate measures or else the Court may decide the termination of the company. If the partners have provided loans to the company and the equity of the company is not sufficient for the satisfaction of the rest of the company’s debtors, then the amount of the loans is not returnable to the partners. 4.2.1.4 The General Partnership and the Limited Partnership In the General Partnership and the Limited Partnership there are no capital requirements, as the general partners have unlimited personal responsibility. 4.3 Any special business or investment visa issues Residence permit requirements: Non-Greek or non-EU nationals can be partners/shareholders of all the types of companies, without any residence permit requirements, apart from the general partners of the Partnerships, for whom a residence permit for independent work is required. On the other hand, there is a need for a residence permit for independent work for the directors of the P.C. and the Ltd and for the legal representatives of the S.A. Business and Investment Residence Permit: The new Greek Code of Immigration of 2023 (L.5038/2023) provides various types of residence permits for Non-Greek or non-EU nationals (under several conditions usually regarding the amount of the investment, the percentage of shareholding etc.) who either establish or participate in a business entity in Greece (or if the investor is a legal entity, to its legal representative or shareholders etc.) or
Residency and Material Visa Restrictions 4.1 Any significant barriers to entry for an offshore party There are no significant barriers for an offshore party to be a partner/shareholder of the above company types. However, it is noted that for all the business entities there is an obligation to register their ultimate beneficial owner(s) in the Greek Ultimate Beneficial Owners Registry. 4.2 Capitalisation obligations 4.2.1 Capital requirements 4.2.1.1 The Société Anonyme (S.A.) The minimum share capital is €25,000. However, the minimum capital may be higher for several types of undertakings (e.g. banking services) or in order to be listed in the stock exchange market. If there is no sufficient funding for the purposes of the company, it may be assessed by a court as one of the criteria for deciding the “lift of the corporate veil” and consequently personal responsibility of the shareholder(s). 4.2.1.2 The Private Company (P.C.) In the P.C. there is no minimum capital requirement. It can be even zero. The share capital is calculated only on the basis of the contributions in capital (in cash or in kind) and not the non-capital contributions and the guarantees. 4.2.1.3 The Limited Liability Company (Ltd) In the Ltd there is no minimum capital requirement. However, the nominal value of each portion of participation cannot be less than €1.
ILN Corporate Group – Establishing a Business Entity Series
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