Market infrastructure - Greece
Institutions and organisation
Stock Exchanges and trading platforms
- Hellenic Exchanges - Athens Exchange (HELEX) - www.helex.gr
On 19 December 2013, HELEX absorbed its 100% subsidiary Athens Exchange and the name of the company was changed to Hellenic Exchanges – Athens Stock Exchange S.A. Holding with a new trading name Hellenic Exchanges – Athens Stock Exchange “HELEX”. HELEX is the new market administrator and operates under the supervision of the Ministry of National Economy and the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission.
The securities market consists of the following categories:- Main market (equities trading);
- Fixed Income market (includes both government debt and corporate debt securities);
- ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) market;
- Structured products market;
- Special markets.
- HDAT – Electronic Secondary Securities Market of Bank of Greece (www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Markets/HDAT)
HDAT, the Electronic Secondary Securities Market is the regulated market for Greek government securities and bonds or other fixed-income debt securities issued by corporations and other entities.HDAT is operated and managed by the Bank of Greece. Its operation, organisation and management are regulated by the Operating Rules in accordance with Law 3606/2007.
CSDs
- ATHEXCSD - (www.helex.gr)
On 19 December 2013 the spin-off of the Central Securities Depository business and the Registry and Settlement Service as well as the administration of Dematerialised Securities System and contribution to 100% subsidiary Thessaloniki Stock Exchange Centre was completed. At the same time the name of the company was changed to Hellenic Central Securities Depository S.A. with trade name ATHEXCSD. ATHEXCSD acts as the central securities depository for dematerialised Greek equities and corporate bonds and administers the Dematerialised Securities System (DSS) (also called Sistima Ailon Titlon “SAT”) in which all dematerialised securities are recorded and transfers are monitored through the securities accounts kept in DSS.
Stock exchange transactions and against payment transactions are settled through the central bank money mechanism of the Bank of Greece.
ATHEXClear acts as the clearing house for the equities and the derivatives. - Bank of Greece - (www.bankofgreece.gr)
The Bank of Greece acts as the central securities depository for dematerialised Public Fixed Income (government bonds, T-bills) and is responsible for the clearing and settlement of both on-exchange (HDAT) and off-exchange (OTC) transactions in these securities.
BoGS is the Bank of Greece clearing and settlement system for Public Debt securities in bookentry form. However, trades in such securities can also be cleared and settled through DSS operated by ATHEXCSD. BoGS outsourced its settlement to T2S effective 22 June 2015.
Regulatory structure
The regulator of the Greek Market is the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC).
As an independent administrative authority, the HCMC supervises the implementation of Capital Market legislation by setting the terms and conditions governing the organisation and operation of the capital market through the issuance of decisions and instructions on compliance procedures; it may also impose the fines and penalties provided by Law.
In its capacity as a national regulator, the HCMC concludes bilateral and multilateral agreements with other regulatory authorities for the exchange of confidential information and for cooperation in matters within the scope of its competence. It is an active member of the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) and of the IOSCO.