Although the offer of securities to the public generally require the publication of a prospectus, there is an exemption from that requirement where securities are only offered to employees of the issuer or a group company. The existing security legislation will continue to apply until the Prospectus Directive is implemented in Greek law, which should have happened by 1 July 2005 but is expected to occur by early 2006.

Employee share schemes are not common in Greece. Some relevant legislation was introduced approximately 10 years ago but this deals primarily with employee participation in the profits of their employing company rather than with share-based incentive schemes.

The concept of employee share participation schemes was first introduces into Greek legislation some ten years ago and practice of operating such schemes is not widespread. In the current legal context, many issues concerning the grant of shares from Greek subsidiary companies of foreign parent companies based abroad to their Greek employees through a Stock Option plan is regulated. However, taking into consideration that Greek company and tax legislation governing this institution are at fairly early stage, a number of practical issues cannot be addressed in this legal analysis in a firm and authoritative manner.