International Business Law Firm in Greece

Kosmidis & Partners

Byzantium 10
Thessaloniki 57004
Greece

+30 239 2057167

+30 239 2057619

www.greece-lawyer.com

Contact Mr. Themis Tosounidis, LL.M.

Published Articles

Law Firm Overview

Kosmidis & Partners has been providing specialized services based on a profound knowledge of the different legal systems and various cultural spheres since 1992, and act as international consultants on bi-national legal issues. All our staff has an intercultural background and specializes in international law, usually as the result of many years’ residence, study and professional practice in several countries. We are building a stable and reliable bridge for companies between Greece and the rest of the world through our chambers in Thessaloniki and Athens, and through our national and international cooperation network.

Kosmidis & Partners, solicitors, sees itself as a partner to internationally active companies and advises on creation of national structures, whilst preserving the respective corporate culture. This is the reason why we have integrated our firm into an international cooperation network. We are admitted to all the German and Greek courts, including the highest Greek tribunal, the Areopag in Athens.

We provide international legal advice and authoritative answers to complex questions. Our range of services is complemented by preventative advice before conclusion of contracts, obtaining information on the creditworthiness of potential signatories to contracts, conflict management in personal and business crisis situations and constant striving for disputes to be resolved out of court. The offices use state-of-the-art communications technology for seamless cooperation and optimum national and international transfer of information, thus ensuring that the foreign mandate in question is dealt with smoothly and optimally.

Year this Office was Established: 1992

Languages: English, German, Greek, French, Spanish.

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: International Inheritance Law; Enforcement; Asset Advice; Reorganization of Companies; Due Diligence; Register of Titles; Debt Collection.

Areas of Law Description

We provide legal services on the following areas of practice:

- Company Law

A suitable legal structure must be chosen before forming a company in Greece. The classic partnership is, of course, ruled out from the outset where international structures are concerned.

- Company Formation

Formation or incorporation of a company in Greece is subject to specific regulations and requirements, which also apply to setting up of a foreign subsidiary company in Greece. For this reason Kosmidis & Partners would like to provide you with an overview of the steps you will encounter when setting up a company in Greece. It would be our pleasure to advise and assist you with any other legal matters relating to formation of a subsidiary in Greece.

- Mergers & Acquisitions

The entrepreneurial opportunities that have arisen as a result of the boundless European internal market, from constant expansion of the internal market and due to the country-specific peculiarities and the varying stages of development in the individual Member states, are many and varied. In the process it is not only "global players", i.e. the major corporations, which are faced with the issue of expansion abroad, but also medium-sized businesses and companies which would like to have a share of the benefits of an enlarged internal market.

When planning to invest in Greece, German companies are faced with the choice of whether to establish a new company or to take over or invest in an existing company. In addition to the possibility of forming a new company in Greece, there are advantages to taking over or investing in an existing Greek company. Such corporate transactions, such as mergers, taking over companies or investing in them, are referred to as "Mergers & Acquisitions", or "M & A" for short.

- Property Law

There are some parallels between Greek property law and property law in other European countries like Germany.

If one wishes to purchase real estate in Greece, the purchase of Greek property is governed by the Astikos Kodikas (Greek Civil Code), which is comparable to the German Civil Code (BGB). A notarized contract of sale and entry in the Ipothikofilakio (Land Charges Register) or Ktimatologio (Land Register) is required for the purchase.

As in German law, in Greek law too accession of title to a property is only complete on entry in the Greek Land Register.

Kosmidis & Partners will help you with the problems that arise in this regard, such as verifying ownership status. The following section provides an overview of purchasing property according to Greek law.

- Commercial Law

When merchants conclude a contract for purchase and sale of goods, they are entitled to freely negotiate the special terms with regard to price, quantity, properties, etc., as well as carriage, risks and surrender of the goods. Businesses involved in exports, however, are frequently faced with different interpretations of identical formula and national commercial practices. To counteract the resulting imponderables, the parties to the contract can use what are known as Incoterms, which offer a range of international rules for interpreting the main forms of contract used. Specifically, the Incoterm agreed by the parties determines which party is liable for the respective costs in the transport chain, for loading and unloading the goods and Customs clearance and at what point a party bears the risk of loss for an international shipment. Incoterms also affect the basis on which the imported goods are valued for Customs.

- Inheritance Law

The question of applicable law always arises when what is known as an international succession issue occurs. In this case the first task is to determine whether American, English, Greek or another law applies. There is even the possibility that the law of both legal systems must be taken into consideration in parallel.

- Enforcement

Kosmidis & Partners works extensively in the field of collection of debts and execution in Greece. The practice regularly acts for German clients in Greece and vice versa and, because of its offices in both countries, is able to ensure the most effective procedure in each case. Whether the choice is an action for recovery of money abroad or a cross-border dunning procedure to be conducted from Greece or another country, in each case a decision is taken on the basis of a feasibility study, which weighs up questions such as length and cost of the proceedings, national peculiarities, procedural and substantive law criteria, etc.

- Tax Law

Basically it is necessary to quote (your own) tax reference in all dealings with the Greek finance authorities. The tax reference is also required for processing quite a lot of mundane private legal matters, so that in practice hardly anyone can dispense with obtaining a tax reference of their own. Commencement of any kind of business in Greece always starts with the tax office, so that by this point at the latest a tax reference must be available, or one have been applied for. A series of documents that vary depending on the company structure also have to be submitted for obligatory notice of commencement or cessation of any business activity. We answer some frequently asked questions regarding allocation of a tax reference and commencement and cessation of business activity, but of course without making any claim to exhaustiveness and without liability.

- Franchising

In franchising the franchiser generally gives the franchisee an enterprise with a marked organizational structure of a high technological standard. The franchisee is a truly independent entrepreneur, who uses the franchise package for his own independently run commercial undertaking. A franchise is a successful business concept, which is passed on by the franchiser to the franchisee by means of a licensing agreement. The franchise package is first and foremost an organized sales concept for goods and services. It includes sales and distribution methods, commercial goods or brands, commercial names, trademarks, business designations in words and images, business forms, subsidiary systems, copyrights, technical knowledge and experience (called know-how), and patent rights.

- Debt Collection

Kosmidis & Partners Law Firm works extensively in the field of collection of debt and its execution in Greece and abroad. The firm regularly provides its services to American, English, Canadian and Australian clients in Greece and vice versa and is able to ensure the most effective result for each individual case. Whether the chosen action is that of an action for recovery of money abroad or a cross-border dunning procedure, in each case, a decision is made on the basis of a feasibility study, which weighs up factors such as the length and cost of proceedings, national peculiarities, procedural and substantive law criteria, etc.

- Expert Advice in special areas of law

We feel that we are equal to the need for advice in these areas of law because of our extensive experience and the care with which we carry out our clients' instructions efficiently and cost-effectively. Our range of services is complemented by comprehensive preventative advice before conclusion of contracts, and obtaining information on the creditworthiness of potential signatories to contracts.