Publicity obligations of multinational groups / Filing of Financial Statements to the Bank of Greece

On 09.11.2023, Law 5066/2023 (Government Gazette A΄ 188/14.11.2023) "Implementation of Directive (EU) 2021/2101 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2021 amending Directive (EU) 2013/34 as regards disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches - Update of national legislation on companies' publicity obligations and other urgent provisions", was passed.

• By virtue of the new law, an obligation to submit and publish a statement on income tax information of multinational groups, and, under circumstances, certain standalone undertakings carrying out activities in Greece, is established, aiming at the enhancement of financial and corporate transparency. For the first time, an obligation to publicly report income tax information through submission to the General Commercial Register (GEMI) is implemented for multinational groups of companies, irrespective of the country of origin of the ultimate parent undertaking. To consider whether an entity falls under the ambit of the law, financial data are taken into account and in particular, the exceeding of a certain amount of revenue during the last two (2) consecutive years, based on the consolidated financial statements of the group or the standalone financial statements of the standalone company, while conditions for exemption are also set out. The obligation is also imposed on all Greek branches of EU credit and financial institutions irrespective of the amount of revenues.

The information to be published includes all activities of the obliged entities and affiliated companies, and in particular, information such as name, fiscal year, description of activities, number of employees, financial results, etc. and is published in the General Commercial Register (GEMI) within twelve (12) months from the end of each relevant financial year.

Compliance with the obligation is ascertained by the certified auditors, while the responsibility for the preparation and publication of the report falls on the managerial and supervisory bodies of the ultimate parent undertakings and the standalone undertakings, the administrative, management and supervisory bodies of the subsidiary undertakings, and with respect to the branches, on their legal representatives.

In case of non-compliance, fines ranging from Euros 10,000 to 100,000 may be imposed based on certain criteria, such as turnover, recurrence, financial situation of the offender.

The above obligation applies for financial years starting from 22.06.2024.

• In addition, Law 5066/2023 introduces an obligation for companies of the non-financial sector, which receive financing from credit institutions operating in Greece, to submit their annual financial statements to the Bank of Greece within twenty (20) days from the approval by the General Meeting of shareholders. Particularly for listed companies, the submission of financial data to the Bank of Greece must take place simultaneously with the publication of their annual financial report provided for in Law 3556/2007.

The obligation for submission applies to financial statements of the fiscal year 2022, and especially for listed companies, the deadline for submission is set at 20.11.2023.