of individual entities (physical or legal) that are organized into groups and share a common goal, usually to amass as much capital as possible for the benefit of the entity itself and the people or organizations they are comprised of. A business deal between any of the aforementioned entities and the company itself is called a "Related Parties Transaction." Often criticized as a gaping wound on the body of modern globalized capitalism, KPMG consulting firm sees them as "an integral part of day-to-day business for many entities." Corporate governance (CG) was first introduced in the Greek legal framework with the 3016/2002 law which was a result of all the research done on corporate governance in our country up to that date. The fact that it consists of only five pages is indicative of the sketchy work done by the government. A more serious attempt to codify the behavioral system of listed companies in Greece has been done by the Hellenic 2011. The problem in this case is that HFC could only recommend exemplary behavior and could never sanction the disobedience of a listed company to its indicative rules. In 2011 HFC proceeded with the publication of a new reformed code that promoted best practices and is based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) regulations on CG and on the directive 2006/46/EC. This text is much closer to international standards and indicates the need for Greece to modernize its CG system. Apart from these texts, Greece also complies to the IAS-24 regulation which has become internal mandatory law. A good way to evaluate the financial way of thinking for a certain population is to observe how minor shareholders prefer to play the game. Greek minor shareholders are risk averse. They prefer to invest in major low risk companies with shares of low market value. Is it because they have no trust in smaller regulations about its governance and in which they have no managerial say or is it because they prefer shares that have almost no default risk? I believe it's the latter. The positive news coming from recent studies indicates that Greece is starting to abandon the classical concentrated model and is converging towards the Anglo-Saxon model. This may be a result of the severe economic crisis that has tortured Greece for the last six years and the series of privatizations of public companies, but it still is a step forward. The domestic implementation of a large number of European Union directives, regulations and communications; the rise of diversified capital needs of Greek corporations within the new international environment of intensified financial competition; and the gradual transformation of domestic corporate culture brought significant change in corporate relations and behavior. In the past decade, the absence of relations between CG and corporate scandals stalled the debate about CG in Greece. The solution of auditing and legal measures seemed to be sufficient. Related Parties Transactions specializes in corporate law, transportation and land logistics, claims and competition. 18, Valaoritou Street Athens, Greece 10671 +30 21 30 390 000 Phone +30 21 30 390 088 Fax filippos.ziras@karagounislawfirm.gr www.karagounislawfirm.gr |