How To Close A Company in Greece

A Greek company may be voluntarily deregistered given the following circumstances: company term expiry; by a decision of its shareholders upon the premature termination of the company.

No closure of a Greek company is quick but this is by far the most straightforward route to go down.

In order to ensure that the Greek company is closed in the proper manner and in the quickest possible timeframe you will need to follow the steps below:

• • Draft a decision for the dissolution minuted by way of a shareholders meeting. The liquidators of the company's assets are also appointed at this time.
  • The minutes of the shareholders meeting are then filed before the relevant prefecture – in the case of a Ltd in Greece, this will be the Court of First Instance-the authority closest to the registered address of the company.
  • Prefecture then issues approval of dissolution which has to be published in the National Bulletin as well, after the company has paid the required fees.
  • The approval of the dissolution from the prefecture together with a copy of the Minutes and a declaration of termination of the companies trading activity must be submitted to the relevant tax authority. The tax authority will also clear the companies books.
  • Minutes of the shareholders meeting should verify the termination of the process and the minutes of the liquidators meeting are drafted. These are submitted to the prefecture for publication in the Government Gazette. Balance sheets of the termination of the winding up are also drafter.
  • The approval from the prefecture of the termination of the winding up process, together with a copy of the minutes of the liquidators meeting and the balance sheets of termination of the winding up must be submitted before the relevant tax authority. The tax authority will then also close the companys books and the process is then complete.

ADVANTAGES OF VOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION

• • This is the only straightforward way of ensuring that your company is closed in the correct manner

DISADVANTAGES OF VOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION

• • If the company is not dissolved in the proper manner then this could take time and money, please contact us for assistance and fees for winding up your company in Greece.

This is not a choice. The company is put under compulsory liquidation where the company is unable to pay its debts, bankruptcy, revocation of an activities licence or a winding up petition is made in the public's interest. This is an expensive course of action and clear advice needs to be taken. This usually involves taking the debtor to the high court. Please call us for further assistance in these cases.

What happens in a compulsory liquidation?

• • The business owner, creditors and public prosecutor declare bankruptcy a special procedure for insolvent company is then put into play
  • A special bankruptcy process should be followed before the company enters the winding up stage – please call us for further assistance in this matter as this is not straightforward.

For both options it is important to take care to protect the assets of the business, to conform to the liquidator's wishes and to act responsibly. Please contact us for further information and advice as to how to proceed.