GREECE: LITTLE OR NO ENFORCEMENT.
Share of World Exports: 0.33 per cent
Foreign Bribery Cases and Investigations There is no available data concerning initiated, on-going or concluded foreign bribery cases in Greece. One investigation opened in Greece in 2012. The OECD Working Group on Bribery in their Phase 3 report on the implementation of the Convention in Greece reported that Greek authorities opened an investigation probing allegations that Greek nationals facilitated bribe payments on behalf of Magyar Telekom, a Hungarian telecommunications company. These bribes were allegedly paid to public officials in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.230 The Greek authorities became aware of the allegations in April 2010 when the Greek Ministry of Justice received a request for mutual legal assistance from US authorities.231 The working group criticised Greece for waiting two years before officially investigating the allegations.232
Access to Information Access to information on enforcement is a serious problem in Greece. No statistics on foreign bribery cases or investigations are publicly accessible and statistics for 2012 were not made available on request. The only information available comes from law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions, the media and other international reports monitoring enforcement.
Inadequacies in Legal Framework The absence of enforcement action means that it is hard to assess the adequacy in practical terms of the Greek legal framework. Greece has a number of laws relevant to foreign bribery which makes it difficult to know which laws should apply when and to what extent.233 The OECD Working Group on Bribery felt that this “complexity can only impede implementation.”234 For example, there are a number of laws dealing with the issue of corporate liability and it is not clear whether a legal person can be considered liable in Greece when bribes are paid indirectly or via a subsidiary or an agent.235
Inadequacies in Enforcement System The enforcement system is poorly resourced and there is a lack of coordination and communication between different enforcement bodies.236 Furthermore, investigators and prosecutors are inadequately trained to handle foreign bribery cases and generally there is a lack of public awareness of the offence.237 There is no whistleblower protection in Greece and Greek authorities
230
The OECD Working Group, Phase 3 Report on Implementing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in Greece, June 2012, (Phase 3 Report on Greece 2012), pages 5, 7-8, 19-21 and 29, www.oecd.org/daf/antibribery/Greecephase3reportEN.pdf. 231 Phase 3 Report on Greece, 2012, page 8; US v. Magyar Telekom, Plc., US District Court (E.D. Virginia) 1:11CR00597 (29 December 2011); Complaint filed in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Magyar Telekom, PLC, and Deutsche Telekom, AG, US District Court (S.D.N.Y.) 11CIV9646 (28 December 2011). 232 Phase 3 Report on Greece 2012, page 8. 233 Bribery of foreign public officials, as well as bribery of other categories of foreign and international staff was criminalised in Greece through the successive ratification laws of the international instruments against corruption (including the OECD Convention and the UNCAC). Laws 3666/2008 (which were passed to ratify the UNCAC) does go some way towards consolidating the ratification laws by amending some of the bribery provisions of the earlier laws of ratification. However, not all relevant provisions are amended and several legal provisions overlap. See GRECO Third Round Evaluation Report on Greece (Theme I: Incriminations) June 2010, page 10, 11, 22, www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/greco/evaluations/round3/GrecoEval3(2009)9_Greece_One_EN.pdf. 234 Phase 3 Report on Greece 2012, pages 10-11. 235 Ibid. 236 Transparency International Greece, National Integrity System Assessment – Greece, 2012, pages 88-102. 237 “The [OECD Working Group on Bribery] lead examiners believe that the awareness of foreign bribery and the Convention in Greece may be unacceptably low”, Phase 3 Report on Greece 2012, page 41.
EXPORTING CORRUPTION – OECD PROGRESS REPORT 2013
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