In the current economic and social environment, companies are called upon to maintain their smooth operation, as well as to adopt practices that ensure their viability. One of the central pillars of sustainable development of listed companies in the alternative market, today, is the adoption of a strong corporate governance system. In the Greek financial sector, there are limited references to the companies that trade on the Alternative Market of the Athens Stock Exchange, as well as to the companies' approach to the Hellenic Corporate Governance Code. The aim of this work is to cover a part of the incomplete literature that exists in the scientific community for the companies on the alternative market of ATHEX, because the provisions of Hellenic Corporate Governance Code are considered crucial for the business strategy and for the creation of corporate value. The purpose of this paper is primarily to deepen the understanding on the new corporate governance code of ATHEX as well as on the application of the code practices in the selected sample of listed companies in the alternative market of the Athens Stock Exchange. From a theoretical perspective, extensive reference is made to the practices and legal framework of the corporate governance code in Greece. For the analysis and description of the data regarding corporate governance in the alternative market of ATHEX, and specifically, the adoption or not, of an effective corporate governance system. Information was collected from the financial reports of the sample companies for the period 2008 - 2021. The present study shows that listed companies in the alternative market are trying to adopt a framework of principles in line with the respective companies trading in the ATHEX main market. However, compared to the companies trading in the main market of ATHEX, there are huge differences in the degree of compliance for companies in the alternative market. Therefore, significant improvements should be made as the limited adoption of the corporate governance code is still very characteristic for the firms of the alternative market.
Corporate governance, alternative market, ATHEX, Greece
G34, G30, O16