The New Greek Companies Act – Greek Company Law: Made in Greece or in Europe?

Abstract

Greek Company Law has its origins in the French “Code de Commerce” of 1807, which, although never legislated in Greece, applied as a Greek law to the business transactions even before the Greek Independence (1830). The German influence took over progressively early in the 20 ^th century. Such influence is visible in the important Law on SAs (1920), the chapter of the Greek Civil Code on the contract of society (1946) and more recently in Law 4072/2012 on commercial partnerships. The list of business associations available in Greece includes the usual business forms (general and limited partnerships, silent partnership, and capital companies) provided in continental Europe. Recent legislative developments include a new law on SAs (2018) and a new company form, the Private Company (2012), which is mostly used by small and medium entreprises. The Greek Sarl is fading out. The introduction of a new entity has been envisaged (but not yet adopted), imitating the “individual enterprise with limited liability” of French law.