Whistleblowing: how to turn compliance with upcoming laws into a business advantage

In October 2019, the European Parliament passed the “Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law”. In May 2023, the Bill 7945 transposing the EU Directive 2019/1937 into Luxembourg national law was adopted by the Parliament. With the transposition of the Directive, all entities in the financial sector, private sector entities with at least 50 employees and all public entities including communes with at least 10,000 inhabitants are mandated to implement an internal whistleblowing system.

Beyond the legal requirement, the introduction of a whistleblowing system offers numerous advantages. Despite potential associations with defamation or black mouthing, it is a powerful tool to detect fraud and enhance processes when properly established. According to a report of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a “tip” was the most common source to detect cases of fraud within a company.

A well-implemented whistleblowing system becomes a business advantage, enabling organisations to address internal weaknesses promptly and efficiently, thereby avoiding reputational or financial damages.

However, a successful whistleblowing system is more than not just setting up a hotline or mailbox for submitting reports. It requires appropriate communication, procedures and trainings.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• understand the different requirements set out by the whistleblowing law
• explain the organisation of a standard whistleblowing case
• discuss the need for whistleblower protection
• identify the starting points within his/her organisation for the implementation of a whistleblowing system

• Overview of the EU Directive
• Internal and external reporting channels
• Already existing whistleblowing systems in other countries
• Discussion of the different stages of a whistleblowing case
• Criteria for the selection of a tool
• Definition of processes and elaboration of procedures
• Internal investigations and cooperation with authorities
• Dos and Don’ts for the successful implementation of a whistleblowing system
• Real life examples

In collaboration with the Forensics team, PwC's Academy offers a training highlighting the key requirements of the Luxembourg's Whistleblowing law. It will also explain necessary accompanying processes to ensure the proper use of the whistleblowing system. Participants will gain practical tips for the setting up and operating the system as well as handling and investigating allegations.

As part of the Forensics team, our trainers bring valuable first-hand experience with actual investigations and whistleblowing cases.

This training is coordinated by Michael Weis, Partner at PwC Luxembourg and will be given by directors and managers who benefit from a strong professional experience in this area.

Michael, Financial Crime Leader and Partner in the forensic services, gained extensive knowledge in the investment management and banking industries.

As a key member of the internal controls practice of PwC, Michael specialises in the review of internal controls in the context of SAS 70 reviews and controls reports. He is the manager of various high-profile client assignments on internal controls reports and on Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) in the investment management industry.

Within PwC, Michael takes a key role in the AML taskforce and on internal controls work for the prevention of financial crime. He is coordinating the PwC’s Academy's “Fight against financial crime” leading training programmes that regularly involve international subject matter experts (e.g. transparency international, UN Security Council, FATF, SCPC, FSA, CSSF etc.).

Through his professional qualifications he specialises in compliance related topics such as internal controls frameworks, fraud prevention/investigation and AML.