Important legal information to consider before using the whistleblowing platform
The aim of the whistleblowing platform
The whistleblowing platform forms part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) whistleblowing mechanism. People can use it as a means to report suspected breaches of European Union law relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions (also known as “relevant EU Law”) by a supervised entity, a national supervisor or the ECB itself. The ECB encourages anyone with reasonable grounds to believe that a breach of relevant EU law has occurred to submit a report via the whistleblowing platform provided they are acting in good faith.
The ECB does not provide legal advice on matters reported via its whistleblowing platform.
Defining relevant EU law
For the purposes of the whistleblowing platform, relevant EU law comprises the rules relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions (or “banks”). The ECB applies these rules when carrying out the supervisory tasks conferred on it by the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) Regulation (Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013). These rules include:
- directly applicable regulations, such as the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council)
- national implementations of EU directives, such as the Capital Requirements Directive (Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council)
- national legislation exercising options granted to Member States in directly applicable regulations
- ECB regulations, such as the SSM Framework Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 468/2014 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/17))
- ECB decisions
Supervisory tasks that are not conferred on the ECB (such as preventing money laundering, combatting terrorist financing, protecting consumers and supervising payment services) do not fall within the scope of the whistleblowing platform, unless the reported matter indicates a breach of prudential requirements.
If you would like to report a breach relating to one of the tasks mentioned above, please contact the relevant national competent authority in your Member State.
How to report a breach of EU law relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions
Any report of a breach of EU law relating to the prudential supervision of banks that is made in good faith will be treated as a protected report. If you would like to report a breach, please use the secure whistleblowing platform and answer the questions in as much detail as possible.
If the whistleblowing platform is not available in your language, you can write your answers in any other official EU language. Please set out your allegations in your chosen language in the free-text field of the whistleblowing platform’s reporting form.
You can also report a breach anonymously. When submitting information anonymously, please make sure you remove any information that could identify you – for example, file properties that may contain your name as the author of a document.
All reports are treated confidentially in compliance with the EU data protection framework. The ECB protects personal data and ensures appropriate protection for both the reporting party (the whistleblower) and the accused party. See the related privacy statement for further information on the applied data protection standards.
Further information can be found on whistleblowing and the dedicated ECB platform – in particular about communicating with the ECB and submitting your report and related documents.
Misuse of the whistleblowing platform
Misuse of the whistleblowing platform may constitute a criminal offence in one or more EU Member States. With this in mind, if a report is submitted in bad faith, the ECB may request the relevant national competent authority to refer the matter to the appropriate authorities for investigation and possible criminal prosecution, in accordance with national law, to protect the reputation and rights of all involved parties.