Forming a Greek company from abroad: the procedure, step by step.

The procedure, step by step

Law 4919/2022 sets the following sequence for a company formed through a One-Stop Shop; on the e-ΥΜΣ the checks run automatically:

• 1. The founders, or a person they have lawfully authorised, file the standard application with the articles of association and the supporting documents, on paper at a One-Stop Shop or electronically.
• 2. On the electronic One-Stop Shop (e-ΥΜΣ) each founder is identified with TAXISnet credentials or a European eIDAS e-ID, fills in the company's details and signs the articles electronically.
• 3. The single formation fee (τέλος Ενιαίου Κόστους Σύστασης) is paid. For an ΑΕ the fee to the Competition Commission is paid as well.
• 4. The One-Stop Shop checks the application, the documents, the articles and the name on the same or, at the latest, the next working day after it receives them.
• 5. If something is missing or wrong, the founders are asked by email to correct it within five working days. If they do not, or the correction is still insufficient, the application is rejected.
• 6. Once the checks are complete, the system issues the ΓΕΜΗ number, the European unique identifier (EUID) and the registration code, opens the company's file in ΓΕΜΗ, issues the company's tax number, registers it as an employer with e-ΕΦΚΑ where the law requires, enrols it with the competent chamber and issues a digitally signed certificate of formation that includes the articles.
• 7. On the electronic One-Stop Shop, managers or board members who are not founders receive an email asking them to accept their appointment. At a physical One-Stop Shop they are informed of their appointment by email.

Notary or not, model or bespoke articles

An ΙΚΕ is formed through the electronic One-Stop Shop, using either the model articles or the model articles with additional content. A notarial deed is needed only where a special law requires it, where assets whose transfer needs a notarial deed are contributed to the company, or where the founders choose it. In those cases a certified notary acts as the One-Stop Shop. The list of certified notaries is published on the ΓΕΜΗ website.

An ΑΕ is formed by notarial deed, or by private document if the founders adopt the model articles. With model articles it can also be formed through the electronic One-Stop Shop.

The model articles contain only the minimum content the law requires. Additional content may be added freely, provided it does not change or cancel the model provisions and does not breach mandatory law. In practice this is where founders with different roles record what they have agreed: how decisions are taken, who may transfer shares and to whom, what happens if a partner leaves. The model articles are available in Greek and in English. The articles of an ΙΚΕ that are a private document may also be drawn up in an official language of the European Union; towards third parties the Greek text prevails.

Capital

ΙΚΕ: the partners set the capital freely and it may even be zero. A partner can contribute capital (cash or assets), services or work (non-capital contributions), or an undertaking to answer for the company's debts up to a stated amount (guarantee contributions). Whatever capital is stated must be paid in full at formation, and the manager must certify the payment within one month by an act registered in ΓΕΜΗ. A contribution in kind needs no valuation if its value does not exceed €5,000.

ΑΕ: the minimum share capital is €25,000, paid up in full at formation. Cash is paid into a special account of the company with a bank operating lawfully in Greece or in another country of the European Economic Area. Payment is certified within two months of formation, by a certified auditor or by the board of directors. Where the articles allow shares to be partly paid, the amount paid at formation must still be at least the €25,000 minimum. Contributions in kind generally need a valuation report. The shares of an ΑΕ are registered shares.

Who can manage the company

ΙΚΕ: the company is managed and represented by one or more managers (διαχειριστές). A manager must be an individual and need not be a partner. If the articles say nothing, all partners manage the company jointly; a partner that is a company must then name an individual to act as manager on its behalf, and remains fully liable for the management.

ΑΕ: the company is run by a board of directors of three to fifteen members, and the first board is named in the articles. If the articles allow it, a company can be a board member, provided it names an individual to exercise its powers within fifteen days. Instead of a board, the articles of a smaller, unlisted ΑΕ may provide for a single director-manager (σύμβουλος-διαχειριστής), who must be an individual; this is not available to medium-sized and large companies.

The provisions on managers and board members cited here do not make Greek nationality or residence a condition of appointment, and an ΙΚΕ is not obliged to have its actual place of management in Greece. A person entered in the Register of Disqualified Directors may not be appointed; that register has its own page on this site.

What a foreign founder needs

A founder who is an individual needs an active Greek tax number and, to sign on the electronic One-Stop Shop, TAXISnet credentials or a European eIDAS e-ID. The articles record each founder's name, home address and email address. How a resident abroad obtains a tax number, and how documents signed abroad are authenticated, is explained on our page on doing business in Greece from abroad.

A founder that is a foreign company takes part through its representatives. If it has no Greek tax number, the One-Stop Shop issues one through its link with the tax system. For a corporate founder we normally prepare, with the client:

• Proof that the company exists and is in good standing, from its home registry.
• Its constitutional documents, and proof of who may sign for it.
• The decision of its competent body to take part in the Greek company, and a power of attorney for the person who will sign in Greece.
• The ownership chain up to the individuals who ultimately own or control it, with identification for each of them.
• Authentication and Greek translation of the above, in the form agreed before anything is signed.

The beneficial-owner register

A company with its seat in Greece must have its beneficial owners entered in the Central Register of Beneficial Owners kept under Law 4557/2018, and L+A makes that filing as part of the formation work.

What takes time, and why

The registry's own part is short. What usually determines the calendar is the following:

• Tax numbers and credentials for every founder. The electronic procedure cannot start until each person who must sign can be identified.
• Documents from abroad. Corporate certificates, decisions and powers of attorney have to be issued, authenticated and translated, and the route differs from country to country.
• The ownership chain. Each layer of holding companies adds documents, both for the beneficial-owner register and for the bank.
• The registered office. The lease or the declaration of free use must already be filed with ΑΑΔΕ.
• Bespoke terms. Additional content in the articles, a shareholders' agreement or a notarial deed have to be negotiated and drafted before filing.
• The bank. For an ΑΕ the capital must be paid into a bank account. The bank carries out its own checks and the decision to open an account is the bank's.
• Corrections. An incomplete application is sent back for correction, with five working days to put it right.

The first months after registration

Registration is the start of the company's obligations. In the first weeks and months:

• Tax access: the company's tax number is issued automatically. The company then applies for its own TAXIS access key through the process the One-Stop Shop points it to.
• Capital: the manager of an ΙΚΕ certifies payment of the capital within one month; in an ΑΕ payment is certified within two months.
• Website (ΙΚΕ): within one month of formation an ΙΚΕ must have a company website showing its partners with their addresses, each partner's type of contribution, and its manager, and the website is registered in ΓΕΜΗ. Every company document states the name, the capital and the total of any guarantee contributions, the ΓΕΜΗ number, the seat and exact address, the website and, where it applies, that the company is in liquidation.
• Company books: the manager of an ΙΚΕ keeps a book of partners and a single book of minutes of the partners' and the managers' decisions. An ΑΕ keeps a book of shareholders, and a shareholder is whoever is entered in it.
• Accounting records: the company keeps a record of every transaction. A company that prepares a balance sheet uses a double-entry system. The books are kept in Greek; invoices and other source documents may be issued in another language.
• Beneficial owners: the filing with the Central Register of Beneficial Owners.
• Employees: the company is registered with e-ΕΦΚΑ as an employer where the law requires, and gains access to its electronic services when it starts to employ staff.
• Licences: formation does not depend on any notification or approval of the business activity under Law 4442/2016. Where the activity needs one, it is dealt with separately.
• A bank account: after formation the company can send a request to open an account to the bank of its choice through the One-Stop Shop system.

Each year

The partners of an ΙΚΕ and the shareholders of an ΑΕ meet at least once a year, by the tenth calendar day of the ninth month after the end of the financial year, to approve the annual financial statements. An ΑΕ publishes the approved statements in ΓΕΜΗ within twenty days of approval; in an ΙΚΕ the manager arranges their publication in ΓΕΜΗ.

The corporate income tax return is filed electronically between 15 March and 15 July of the following year where the tax year ends on 31 December, and otherwise by the last working day of the sixth month after the end of the tax year. Changes of managers, board members and articles are registered in ΓΕΜΗ as they occur.

How L+A handles a formation

We prepare the articles and any agreement between the founders, assemble and check the documents from abroad, act for the founders under a power of attorney where they prefer not to file themselves, and see the company through its first filings. The company's accountant handles the tax and accounting registrations; we work alongside the accountant the client chooses.

The work is led by senior lawyers of the firm, in English and Greek, by email. This page covers company law. It is general information, not legal advice, and does not deal with residence permits, visas or tax planning. Reviewed on 11 November 2026.

Sources

Statutes and official sources for the facts on this page:

• Law 4919/2022 (Gazette Α' 71/7.4.2022), One-Stop Shops and ΓΕΜΗ: art. 6 (certified notaries), art. 8 (One-Stop Shops), art. 9 (formation procedure and time limits), art. 10 (company tax number, registered office), art. 11 (e-ΕΦΚΑ employer register), art. 12 (electronic One-Stop Shop), art. 13 (model articles), art. 55 (name reservation), arts 56α and 56γ (disqualified directors and their register): https://www.latsoudislaw.com/law/?law=GEMI4919
• Law 4072/2012 (Gazette Α' 86/11.4.2012), private companies (ΙΚΕ): art. 43 (capital, articles in another language), art. 45 (seat), art. 47 (website, company documents), arts 49-52 (formation), arts 55-58 (managers), art. 66 (books), art. 69 (annual meeting), arts 77-79 (contributions), art. 98 (publication of financial statements): https://www.latsoudislaw.com/law/?law=IKE4072
• Law 4548/2018 (Gazette Α' 104/13.6.2018), sociétés anonymes (ΑΕ): art. 4 (formation), art. 15 (minimum capital), art. 17 (contributions in kind), arts 20-21 (payment and certification of capital), art. 40 (registered shares, book of shareholders), arts 77-78 (board of directors), art. 115 (single director-manager), art. 119 (annual general meeting), art. 149 (publication of financial statements): https://www.latsoudislaw.com/law/?law=AE4548
• General Secretariat of Information Systems: Central Register of Beneficial Owners (electronic service): https://www.gsis.gr/polites-epiheiriseis/epiheiriseis/mitroo-pragmatikon-dikaioyhon
• ΓΕΜΗ portal: One-Stop Shops and the electronic One-Stop Shop (e-ΥΜΣ): https://www.businessportal.gr/υπηρεσίες-μιας-στάσης-υμσ/
• Mitos (National Register of Administrative Procedures): formation of an ΙΚΕ through the One-Stop Shop, prerequisites and steps: https://mitos.gov.gr/index.php/ΔΔ:Σύσταση_Ιδιωτικής_Κεφαλαιουχικής_Εταιρείας_μέσω_της_Υπηρεσίας_μίας_Στάσης
• Law 4308/2014 (Greek Accounting Standards, Gazette Α' 251/24.11.2014), art. 3: accounting system and basic accounting records.
• Income Tax Code, Law 4172/2013, art. 68 par. 2 (corporate income tax return), official codification of the Ministry of Finance: https://minfin.gov.gr/koinopoiisi-kodikopoiisis-tou-kodika-forologias-eisodimatos-symfona-me-to-arthro-83-par-55-tou-n-5104-2024/
• Law 4557/2018 art. 20 (beneficial-owner register), as replaced by Law 5354/2026 (Gazette Α' 184/9.11.2026) art. 281.