Greece has introduced temporary capital controls: guidance for businesses

29 Jun 2015 05:13 PM

Greece has introduced temporary capital control measures to limit the movement of currency out of the country.

Greece has announced that they are introducing capital controls on the movement of currency. If you trade with Greece, or you rely on suppliers there, you may find that you are directly affected by the situation. The way your company is affected will depend on:

As a result of the temporary capital controls introduced by Greece, it is possible that you may experience delays in receiving payments originating from Greece. Greek companies may experience problems making payments and deliveries. The main impacts you may experience relate to contracts and the transfer of money (cash flow). Where countries have experienced disruption in the past, companies have experienced:

Contracts

Contracts are a significant issue as Greek businesses may not be able to meet payment deadlines on the days specified.

If you are worried that companies which you supply to may be affected by the situation, you should speak to them directly to find out more (for example whether they are experiencing a temporary delay to making a payment or any other issue that may affect your contract).

Check your contracts

Contact the businesses you trade with to make sure that they can still carry out the practical arrangements required by your contract with them.

What happens to payments will depend on the terms of the contract between you and the other party. Make sure you understand what terms your contract specifies for payments. You may need to seek legal advice to do this.

Make sure you understand the obligations of any contracts you have in place with businesses in Greece, and whether these are written or verbal-seeking advice from your trade association, legal and financial experts as appropriate. If you do negotiate a change to an existing contract ensure all changes are agreed in writing.

If you do not have a written contract, you may want to consider if you have an oral contract. Under English and Welsh law, an oral contract is formed:

If you have concerns, seek advice from your trade association, or legal and financial experts.

Legal advice

If you need a legal adviser with expertise in trading with Greece, Business Support Helpline advisers hold lists of:

Contact the Business Support Helpline.

Several private law firms have made public advice available for free on their websites.

It is likely there will be a period of legal uncertainty whilst businesses process the changes brought about by Greece introducing capital controls. This uncertainty is likely to last for at least a few days/weeks.

Trading in Greece

If your business trades in Greece your first step should be to find out whether customers can still pay you when expected and also whether suppliers can still provide goods and services as expected.

You may want to review any written contract you have. If your contract is not in writing, but was formed as a result of an oral agreement, you should consider what was agreed. You may have notes or emails relating to this.

If you are concerned that you will be affected, you should speak to your legal adviser.

Working with suppliers

If one of the companies in your supply chain is in Greece you should check with your supplier whether they can still supply the goods/services. If they cannot supply, you should talk to your trade association about alternatives and seek legal advice where appropriate.

If your supplier won’t deliver goods you have paid for, you should speak to them directly to find out more (for example, whether they are experiencing a temporary delay to payment systems, or something more severe).

Dealing with contract issues

If a party fails to make payments or provide goods or services due under your contract, you may wish to consider taking legal action. We recommend you seek independent legal advice before starting any legal action. Talking to the other party to your contract may be a helpful first step.

As an alternative to legal action before the courts, you may wish to consider whether you can re-negotiate the contract or whether mediation may help. Your contract may contain a term which requires you to undertake mediation or arbitration. Even if you are successful, you may not recover all of your legal costs. This is because courts do not always allow a party to recover all of their legal costs. Before incurring costs and starting any legal action you may wish to perform a credit check on the party in breach, to find out whether they have enough funds to pay any damages / fulfil their contractual obligations.

You may wish to bear in mind that legal proceedings take time as the courts have to consider the position of both parties in relation to the law and the facts of the case.

Where to take legal action

Business Support Helpline advisers hold lists of:

Trading with Greece in the future

If you are in the process of finalising a business deal with a Greek firm and have concerns you should consult your trade association, or legal and financial experts for advice. You should make sure all legal and financial issues are addressed before finalising any contract.

In some cases it may be possible to secure export finance support (including insurance). Find details of support available online or contact UK Export Finance on 020 7512 7887.

Greece is introducing capital controls on the movement of currency but it remains a full member of the European Union (with the right to trade freely between member states). There may be temporary disruption (e.g. due to the operation of capital controls – you may wish to discuss with your counterparties whether this will affect you.

Transfer of money (cash flow)

Greece has imposed temporary capital controls to prevent the outflow of large amounts of currency from the country. Capital controls are measures designed to limit the flow of money/capital/funds in and out of a country. As the Greek authorities have outlined, these will be temporary in order to to protect the Greek financial system and economy. Alongside capital controls, bank holidays aim to further stabilise the liquidity situation of the Greek banking sector.

The controls limit the volume of transfer of funds out of Greece. They also place strict limits on cash withdrawals in Greece. The introduction of these controls could cause general delay and disruption to the Greek financial system. This could affect payments from Greece, including by credit and debit card.

The controls only apply in Greece. They do not apply to Greek banks, business or persons in the UK. This means that branches of Greek banks in the UK will not be applying the controls. It is important to be aware that the implementation of controls in Greece might cause some disruption to the regular operation of these branches.

Finance-related support

You may need to seek support, for example, by asking your bank to extend credit facilities to cover temporary interruptions to cash flow. The earlier you can discuss this with them the better as some forms of support may take some time to arrange.

Find out what to do if you think you may have difficulty meeting tax payments and get advice on debt management.

Business Debtline offer free impartial advice on cash flow and debt. You can call them on 0800 197 6026.

If you can’t get your money out of Greece then depending on the circumstances preventing the release of the money, you may want to discuss the situation and your options with your:

The Greek authorities have said that they will establish a Commission to identify how to allow legitimate transfers out of the country. We will advertise more information on this as soon as it becomes available.

Frozen payments

The introduction by Greek authorities of capital controls has temporarily disrupted the ability of financial institutions in Greece to make payments and transfer funds. We expect some electronic payments may be possible again after the period of bank holidays, which are expected to last until 6 July 2015. It is unclear how long it will take for the Greek financial system to become fully operational again and operate without delays, or how long restrictions on the supply of cash will remain in place.

Moving your money out of a bank in Greece

You may experience some restrictions in moving money out of the Greek financial system/ banks, as the temporary capital controls limit the transfer of funds out of Greece. We will provide further information on any exemptions that may be put in place as they become clear.

We are working with Greece and other international partners to ensure that any exemption system is fair, proportionate and implemented quickly.

Receiving funds from Greece

It is not illegal to receive funds from Greece. However, in order for a transfer of funds from Greece to be legal, it must be made under the official exemption regime.

Deposits in a Greek bank account in the UK

Capital controls will only apply to capital flows from Greece. These controls do not affect deposits in UK banks. They do not apply to branches or subsidiaries of Greek banks operating in the UK.

VAT refunds from Greece

VAT refund claims are sent automatically and electronically to Greece once they have been accepted by the (HMRC) VAT Refund Portal. If you wish to check the status and position of a claim, you should contact the Greek authorities at the following address quoting the claim reference number (you should have been given this when you submitted the claim).

Greek Ministry of Finance
Directorate General of Tax and Customs
14th VAT Directorate
VAT Repayments Section
Sina str. 2- 4 10672
Athens
Greece

Tel: 00302103644960 / 0030210 3644990
Fax: 00302103645413
E mail: d14-ctm@otenet.gr

If after having tried to contact the Greek authorities, you still cannot establish the status of your VAT refund claim, you should contact HMRC Online Services (0845 010 8500) to notify them and get advice.

Help from bank and insurance companies

If you trade with Greece you may wish to seek an early conversation with your bank and insurers as appropriate. Through the Lending Code for micro-enterprises banks have committed to act sympathetically and positively when considering any financial difficulties.

Farmers and other agricultural businesses

There is no suggestion at this stage that the situation in the Eurozone will result in any change in the way Common Agricultural Policy calculations are made, or to the rules governing the internal market for agricultural products.

Trading with other Eurozone countries

As with any overseas business activity, you will want to make sure you have planned ahead to mitigate any potential difficulties. You can consult your trade association, or legal and financial experts for advice.

In times of economic uncertainty in particular, it is prudent to consider any implications that these challenging conditions may have for your existing or future contractual arrangements with businesses in Greece and your business continuity arrangements.

Make sure you are following good business practices, such as thinking about what you would do if there was disruption to one or more of your suppliers / customers. It is sensible to assess the risks and put in place plans to mitigate them, seeking advice where appropriate.

Review your contracts. You should formalise and clarify contracts where necessary on the basis of legal advice, for example with regard to the currency in which payments can be made.

Support available

If your business has been affected by the situation in Greece, or you think it might be, there are several sources of help and advice.

Support from government

Delays to payments

If you think you are going to experience delays to payments you are owed as a result of the Eurozone situation and that this could make it difficult to meet your tax payments, then have an early conversation with your tax office; HMRC have launched a dedicated Helpline. You may be able to apply for a deferral on tax payments under the Time to Pay scheme. HMRC’s Business Payment Support Service is designed to meet the needs of businesses and individuals experiencing difficulty or likely to experience difficulty paying their tax bill. Get advice on what to do if you can’t pay a bill on time online or call the helpline on 08457 143 143.

Issues with contracts

If you are trading directly with a Greek company and you require advice (e.g. about local lawyers specialising in trade), Business Support Helpline advisers have a list of commercial lawyers with experience in the Greek market.

Employees abroad or due to travel

If you have employees abroad or are due to travel then you should read the latest travel advice.

Insuring exports to Greece

UK Export Finance assess applications for insurance on exports to Greece on a case-by-case basis.

Support from trade bodies and business representative organisations

For general advice on the current situation you may wish to contact your business representative organisation. Your sector trade body may also be offering more detailed advice about the implications for your sector or industry.

Support from banks

You should discuss any concerns you have about your current or future business performance with your bank as soon as possible.

Through the Lending Code for micro-enterprises banks have committed to act sympathetically and positively when considering any financial difficulties.

Sources of independent legal information

Many law firms have produced free publicly available information, which can be found by searching online. You may also wish to contact your legal advisors to ask them if they have or can recommend any publicly available information.

If there are issues relating to the impact of the Eurozone uncertainty on your business that you think we should publish advice on, please email enquiries@bis.gsi.gov.uk.