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Greece rolls out hedge fund tax breaks to attract managers to Athens

The new regime cuts qualifying executives’ bonus and carried interest tax rate to 5%, compared with the standard 15%, and requires eligible operations to spend at least 3 million euros annually in Greece.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Fund Industry

Greece is moving to attract hedge funds and senior executives to Athens with a new tax regime designed to make the country more competitive with established financial centers, according to a Financial Times report. The initiative, introduced in June after discussions with alternative investment managers, offers qualifying private equity and hedge fund executives a 5% tax rate on bonuses and carried interest, versus the standard 15%. The program received a high-profile boost this week after billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Rokos decided to move his tax residency from the UK to Greece, with Greece’s finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis meeting him shortly beforehand. Greece is also seeking to shift perceptions after years in which the country was mainly known for its sovereign debt crisis and capital controls, the report said. Officials have held discussions with several large hedge funds about establishing operations, and Gulf-based investment groups have shown increased interest, according to a adviser to Pierrakakis involved in designing the regime. To encourage substantive presence rather than only individual relocations, the incentives require a qualifying Greek operation to spend at least 3 million euros a year in the country. People familiar with plans said Rokos Capital Management is expected to start with a relatively small Athens footprint that could eventually employ around 50 people, while noting the firm declined to comment, according to the report.

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