The surveys form part of the obligations of the Bank of Greece to provide statistical information to International Organisations such as the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EUROSTAT), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other bodies in Greece and abroad.

The preparation of the Balance of Payments, the International Investment Position, the statistical data on Foreign Direct Investments and the statistical data on the structure and activity of Foreign Affiliated Enterprises are governed by rules and guidelines set by the European Central Bank (ECB), the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Purpose

The purpose of the surveys is the annual collection of statistical data concerning foreign direct investments (FDI survey), the expansion of foreign controlled enterprises by institutional units resident in Greece (OFATS survey) and the remaining (stocks) claims-liabilities of residents vis-à-vis non-residents (A/L survey).

These data will be used for the preparation of statistical data relating to Foreign Direct Investment (Foreign Direct Investment – FDI), the country's International Investment Position, the Balance of Payments, the National Accounts, as well as for the updating of the European Groups Register (European Groups Register – EGR).

To whom it is addressed

The Foreign Direct Investment survey ( FDI ) is addressed to any natural or legal person resident who has a direct investment relationship with a non-resident, either as a direct investor or as a direct investment enterprise:

  • if it is a subsidiary or affiliated enterprise of a non-resident,
  • if it has a subsidiary or affiliated enterprise that is non-resident,
  • if it is a branch subject to a foreign parent company or it holds a branch abroad,
  • if there are holdings (below 10%) or investments in debt instruments with sister enterprises that are non-residents.

The Foreign Affiliated Enterprises survey (OFATS) is addressed to any legal entity resident in Greece:

a) which exercises control (directly or indirectly) over foreign affiliated enterprises and

b) is the ultimate institutional unit that controls them (UCI). The Ultimate Controlling Institutional Unit is the institutional unit at the top of the control chain of the foreign affiliated enterprise and is not controlled by any other institutional unit.

The Claims-Liabilities vis-à-vis non-residents survey ( A / L ) is addressed to every non-financial enterprise – resident that has financial stocks/balances (stocks) vis-à-vis non-residents in the following categories:

  • Portfolio Investments
  • Shares and units of portfolio investment companies
  • Debt securities
  • Financial Derivatives and employee rights to acquire shares
  • Employee Stock Options
  • Options
  • Futures
  • Swaps
  • Forwards
  • Financial Leases
  • Trade Credits
  • Loans
  • Cash – Deposits
  • Insurance schemes, pension schemes and standardised guarantee schemes
  • Other receivables/payables
  • Confidentiality

It is noted that the data are confidential, are used exclusively for statistical purposes and are not disclosed to third parties.

Persons who perform or have performed activities on behalf of the Bank of Greece are prohibited from disclosing to any natural or legal person and to any public authority the information or data provided in accordance with the above provisions, subject to the exceptions provided for by the applicable EU legislation. This prohibition does not include the disclosure in aggregated form of such data and information, provided that the identity of the persons to whom they refer cannot be inferred. Persons who perform or have performed activities on behalf of the Bank of Greece shall be punished under the provisions of Article 371 of the Criminal Code if they breach the above secrecy. Under the provisions of the same article, any other person who communicates the data submitted to the Bank of Greece by any means whatsoever and by whatever means he or she became aware of them shall also be punished.

In the event of a breach of the above obligations and refusal, reluctance or delay in providing the information requested in each case, or in the event of providing inaccurate or incomplete information, the Bank of Greece may impose on the persons obliged as well as on their legal representatives a fine in favour of the Greek State.

Periodicity – Submission Deadline – System Availability

The submission of the data takes place

annually between 1 April and 31 July of the year following the reference period, for the FDI and A/L surveys.

within 17 months from the end of the reference period, for the OFATS survey.

The system will be open for submission of data every day and every hour of the week, but technical support will be available only on working days from 8.00 a.m. to 15.00 p.m.

Reference period

The reference period is 31/12 of the year for which the data are submitted.

If the financial year does not end on 31/12 of the reference year, the data as of 31/12 are requested to be calculated. If this is not possible, in order to avoid additional workload, the requested data are submitted on the basis of the date of preparation of the latest (approved or not) balance sheet and each year the consistency of the annual change in the data must be maintained.

Data unavailability

If any of the requested data are not (yet) available (e.g. due to accounting statements not yet finalised), reporters are invited to submit provisional or estimated data in order to avoid late submission of the questionnaire. Reporters are invited to submit revised data only if the final data differ significantly from the provisional data submitted.

It is emphasised that the reporter must not proceed with a submission with the statistical data that he or she is unable to update or estimate deleted. In this case, the data submitted in the previous reference year must be copied. Data are deleted only when the position has ceased to exist.

Late submission

In the event of inability to comply with the submission deadline, there should be relevant communication with the External Sector Accounts Preparation Department. Refusal to provide statistical data and information is punished by a fine in accordance with the provisions of Article 55Γ of the Statute of the Bank of Greece, as ratified by N. 2609/1998 and 2832/2000.

Submission of data

The supporting documents (user manuals, technical instructions, concise instructions and templates) are sent electronically to registered IRIS users. New IRIS users should contact the External Sector Accounts Preparation Department of the Statistics Directorate.

Reporters are invited to complete the template of the survey for which they are obliged to submit and send it electronically (upload) via the “ESS” application of the IRIS system.

It is emphasised that, before data submission in any of the annual surveys (FDI, OFATS, AL), the successful submission of the template «General Reporter Information» for the specific reference year must first have taken place.

An automated processing of the submitted file is then carried out, ensuring the quality and correctness of the data. Once this has been completed, an automated message is sent to the reporter's e-mail address with the result of the processing (Accepted – Accepted with omissions – Rejected). For each submission, the corresponding «Submission Receipt» (SR) is posted in the “ESS” application, which includes all the submitted data and the result of their automated processing.

Revision of data

The reporter has the ability to revise the submitted data of the reference period on condition that the submission period has not expired. Each time a final submission is made, the previous one is cancelled and the «submission file» is updated. Only the last successful final submission is considered valid and is taken into account.

Late revision of data is possible following communication with and approval by the External Sector Accounts Preparation Department of the Statistics Directorate.

File exchange history

Reporters, through the “ESS” application, have access to the history of the submitted files, without the possibility of changing them. In this way, there is a single point of reference for the reporters and the competent Department of the Statistics Directorate, on the basis of which they can communicate and resolve any problems in the questionnaire submission process or even in the correctness of the data themselves.