Are you ready for the Belgian transposition of the Whistleblowing Directive?
The act transposing the EU whistleblower protection directive (Directive (EU) no. 2019/1937) into Belgian law has been drafted and will be voted into law shortly. Two months after its publication in the Belgian Gazette, it will enter into force and companies with 250 employees or more will have to comply. Entities with 50-249 employees have time until 17 December 2023 to comply.
If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to create an effective whistleblowing programme! Find out how your organisation scores on policy and procedure, digital maturity and communication by conducting a self-assessment of 12 questions in the link below.
Sanctions
Non-compliance will result in sanctions and potential fines which poses a financial risk. Per the Belgian draft transposition act, non-compliance to set up an internal reporting channel will be sanctionable with a level four Social Penal Code sanction, i.e. either imprisonment of six months up to three years and/or a criminal fine of EUR 600 to EUR 6,000 or an administrative fine of EUR 300 to EUR 3,000.
In addition, a private sector legal entity, the members of its personnel, as well as each natural person that:
impedes or tries to impede a reporting;
retaliates against a whistleblower;
initiates unnecessary and vexatious proceedings against a whistleblower or;
violates the obligation to keep a whistleblower’s identity confidential
will also be punishable by imprisonment of six months up to three years and/or a criminal fine of EUR 600 to EUR 6,000.
Whistleblowing, not only a regulatory requirement
An internal whistleblowing system is a critical component of your ethics framework. It allows you to identify and detect unacceptable behavior timely and to deal with reported issues in a discreet and swift way, with the assistance of forensic specialists when necessary. By failing to provide an effective whistleblowing system to employees and third parties, you may not be able to identify issues with corporate culture and behavior and you may be exposed to external reporting (to the regulator) or public disclosure.
An effective whistleblowing channel also reduces the fraud losses within your company. Fraud cases are detected quickly and as such the impact of the fraud cases can be reduced. Per the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, approximately 43% of all fraud cases are discovered by tips. This makes whistleblowing the most effective way of detecting fraud.
An effective whistleblowing platform mitigates risk
Implementing your whistleblowing platform
PwC’s Forensics specialists can help you plan, implement and manage a whistleblowing platform tailored to your organisation’s specific needs. We collaborate with PwC Legal and other subject matter experts across our Network to bring you a complete and end-to-end solution.
We’ll work closely with you to design or review policies and standard operating procedures, as well as assess your communications and awareness plans.
In the implementation phase, we can set up a digital solution to the highest security standards that functions as a 24/7 reporting channel.
Additionally, we can support you with effective case management, drawing on our experience as forensic specialists. We can assess the situation and help mitigate risk quickly and effectively. As part of the continuous improvement of your whistleblowing platform, we’ll advise on improvements and report key trends via interactive dashboards.
New legislation provides opportunities. Don’t hesitate to contact our Forensics specialists for more information.
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