D&B Report Guide - Greece

Facts and figures:

Country Greece
Business Universe 520,000
International Dialling Code 30
Legal Currencies Euro (EUR)
Population (July 2002 est.) 10,645,343
Capital Athens
Language Greek 99% (official), English, French
Time GMT +2

D&B Business Information Report content:

D&B Rating Yes Credit Appraisal Yes
Public Data Yes Financial Ratios Yes
D&B Payment Score n/a    

Legal forms in Greece:

Legal Form Legal Form (local)
Sole Proprietorship Atomiki Epihirisi
General Partnership Omorythmos Eteria
Lmited Partnership Eterorythmos Eteria
Joint Venture Kinopraxia
Limited Company Eteria Periorismenis Efthynis
Sole Partner Limited Monoprosopi Eteria Periorismenis Efthynis
Societe Anon Anonymos Eteria

 

  Name
Address
Principals		 Reg Date
Number
Start Date		 Capital
(minimum)		 Ownership
(minimum number)
Proprietorship Yes Yes None 1
General Partnership Yes Yes None 2
Limited Partnership Yes Yes None 2
Joint Venture Yes Yes None 2
Limited Company Yes Yes 17,608 2
Sole Partner Limited Yes Yes 17,608 1
Societe Anonyme Yes Yes 58,694 2

'None' means that there is no minimum capital requirement for these types of companies.

Legal filing requirements:

It is not compulsory for Proprietorships to prepare formal financial statements.

For Partnerships and Joint Venture concerns financial statements are generally only available if the company wishes to disclose them. Financial statements are generally available if the company is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. If not, they are only available if the company discloses them.

The year-end financial statements of the companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange are audited.

Business failures:

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
627 420 387 645 707

D&B Business Information Report - data sources and data elements:

Here is a breakdown of information available in Greece and where this information is obtained from.

Trade Registrar's Office and Trade Registry Directory:

  • local City Courts and Chamber of Commerce
  • official announcements from the Government Gazette
  • Articles of Association
  • resolutions of the annual shareholders meetings
  • shareholders and percentage of shares held (for the Societe Anonyme companies this element is available only if the company wishes to disclose it)

Direct telephone interview:
  • activity/market territory
  • client type & number
  • premises/branches/divisions/employees
  • affiliations
  • principals and antecedents
  • expansion plans
  • balance sheets/profit & loss/projected sales

Business publications and news clippings:
  • news articles concerning the subject company and its shareholders
  • public courts
  • protested bills
  • uncovered cheques
  • bankruptcies
  • legal suits
  • charges
  • auctions
  • court judgements
  • notice for mortgage
  • mortgage
  • confiscations

All publicly available data is collected and verified from each of the above data sources by our locally positioned D&B Correspondent for each Business Information Report request received.

Speed of service: 4 working days

Should you require any further information or have any questions, please contact your local Customer Service Centre.

Business Information Report enquiries which are placed with D&B's Emerging Markets Centre should always contain the below details. Unfortunately, enquiries without the below information have a much higher chance of being returned as an Unable To Locate Report. This is simply due to the fact that data sources in the Emerging Markets are not as sophisticated as those in Western Europe.

  • Full Company Name
  • Full Head Quarters Address (street, town, country)
  • Telephone Number
  • Fax Number

Any additional information such as a contact name or line of business would also help to locate the subject of your enquiry.