Aside from regulatory changes such as Fatca, the AIFM directive and the tax changes that local custodians have had to closely monitor and assess for their impact on investors, two major changes in the Greek market were undertaken by the Athex Group over the last 12 months. These were the switch from T+3 to T+2, enforced in October, and the implementation of Emir, in December.

In relation to T2S, the number of market specific attributes in Greece is limited, as is their impact in terms of scope of transactions or impacted parties, says Menelaos Demetriou, securities country manager Greece and Cyprus at Citi, adding that Bank of Greece Settlement System has taken a pragmatic approach to embrace the recommendations of the corporate actions sub-group.

Despite the turmoil that has significantly impacted the Greek economy over the past few years and which has resulted to a significant decrease in the assets under custody, the provision of securities services remains a reliable source of income for the domestic banks, which are investing in post-trade services, adds Dimitri Vassiliou, head of securities services at Eurobank.