Kultusministerkonerenz. The German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) was founded on September 5, 1957 and conducts institutional accreditation of private and religious universities since 2001. The Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programs in Germany or Accreditation Council (Akkreditierungsrat) was created in a KMK resolution on October 15, 2004. The Accreditation Council certifies accreditation agencies and establishes guidelines and criteria for program and system accreditation. There are currently ten certified agencies. AHPGS – Accreditation Agency for Study Programs in Special Education, Care, Health Sciences and Social Work AKAST – Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Canonical Study Programs ACQUIN – Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance Institute AQAS – Agency for Quality Assurance by Accreditation of Study Programs AQ Austria – Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria ASIIN – Accreditation Agency for Degree Programs in Engineering, Informatics/Computer Science, the Natural Sciences and Mathematics evalag – Evaluation Agency Baden-Württemberg FIBAA – Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation OAQ – Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education ZEvA – Central Evaluation- and Accreditation Agency These agencies accredit programs of study for bachelor's and master's degrees and quality management systems (system accreditation) from state or state recognized Higher Education institutions in Germany and abroad. AKAST only accredit programs of study. Greece In Greece, the accreditation authority/national recognition body is the HQA – Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency which was established by Law 3374/2005 and 4009/2011 and belongs to the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs. It is the government supervisory and coordinating agency of the quality assurance framework applied in Hellenic Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Accreditation is compulsory for all universities in Greece. The HQA accredits programs of study for undergraduate degree and postgraduate degree and quality management systems (system accreditation) from state or state recognized HEIs in Greece. The right of conferring or granting university degrees shall be exercised only by a State University established. Thus, any institute which has not been created by an accreditation of Ministry of Education of Greece and HQA state agency according Greece State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed-to-be-University, is not entitled to award a university status degree. In Greece it is illegal to offer a qualification that is or might seem to be a university degree because all Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Greece are public (state) operating with government approval. Hong Kong