Dodecanese MP raises the regional Economic Chamber’s concerns over penalties linked to Greece’s Central Register of Beneficial Owners.
New Democracy MP for the Dodecanese Giannis Pappas has called for a review of administrative penalties relating to Greece’s Central Register of Beneficial Owners, through a parliamentary intervention addressed to Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
The intervention follows a request from the Dodecanese Regional Branch of the Economic Chamber of Greece, which raised concerns about the financial burden the penalties place on businesses.
According to the MP’s announcement, the fines under scrutiny range from €5,000 to €40,000. Pappas argues that these can impose a disproportionate burden, particularly on small and medium-sized businesses, even in cases involving procedural omissions or delays in registering information.
He draws particular attention to general and limited partnerships, known in Greece as O.E. and E.E. He notes that their partners are identified in published partnership documents and asks whether particularly high penalties are justified when beneficial ownership information is already available in those records.
Pappas stresses that transparency and compliance with the law are essential to a properly functioning market. At the same time, he argues that penalties should follow the principle of proportionality, taking account of the nature and seriousness of each breach, the circumstances involved and each business’s ability to comply.
His requests include consideration of more proportionate penalties, reasonable time to comply where feasible, and measures to prevent excessive financial burdens on businesses.
The proposed review aims, according to the MP, to uphold transparency and legality while ensuring that penalties reflect the seriousness of the breach.
