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” which should have been transposed into Luxembourgish law at the latest in December 2021. On 2 May 2023, the Bill 7945 transposing the EU Directive 2019/1937 into Luxembourg national law was adopted by Parliament in a first vote.

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 will have to implement an internal whistleblowing system.

Even without this legal requirement, the introduction of a whistleblowing system can have numerous advantages. While many might associate it with defamation or black mouthing, it is actually an efficient instrument to detect fraud and improve processes if properly set up. 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 proper implementation can therefore be a business advantage allowing organisations to deal with internal weaknesses as soon and as efficiently as possible and to avoid any reputational or financial damages.

However, a successful whistleblowing system is not just the introduction of a hotline or mailbox for submitting reports and needs to be accompanied by the appropriate communication, procedures and trainings.

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

• understand the different requirements set out by the new 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 new 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

Together with the Forensics team, PwC's Academy offers a training highlighting the key requirements of the new Whistleblowing law in Luxembourg. They will also explain necessary accompanying processes to ensure a proper use of the whistleblowing system. The training will provide the participants with practical tips for the set up and operation of the whistleblowing system and for handling and investigating allegations.

Being part of the forensics team, our trainers will have 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.

Through his previous positions and projects, 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 programme that regularly involves international subject matter experts (e.g. transparency international, UN Security Council, FATF, SCPC, FSA, CSSF etc.). Through his professional qualifications he specialised in compliance related topics such as internal controls frameworks, fraud prevention/investigation and AML.