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At the end of the year, the new EU whistleblowing directive will be implemented. It will among other things, require all companies with at least 50 employees to have a whistleblower channel that meets certain criteria, e.g. associated to anonymity, reporting and independent handling of cases. This will be a challenge as many companies lack internal resources for an independent investigation and for establishing the necessary technical solutions. What Reims & Co now can offer is a flexible way, even for smaller companies, to get a whistleblower channel that meets all the new rules. Awareness of the new directive is still low. Reims & Co is now launching a series of webinars on the theme. If you are interested, you can register here the first webinar is on the 11th of feb. (note that the webinar is held in Finnish).

The Swedish National Unit against Corruption is prosecuting 12 people in the Östergötland Region for taking bribes. (Article in Swedish) The bribes are items such as mobile phones, tablets, video game consoles and gift cards with a total value of just over SEK 20,000. The company behind the suspected bribes, Labcenter, was involved in a similar case with the Swedish Maritime Administration just last autumn. That bribery situations are prevalent where the private and public sectors meet is a well-known pattern. Also common is the degree of ignorance that seems to characterize the people involved. Probably the relatively low sums have played a part in creating a feeling that ”this is ok". It is also possible that the Swedish self-image of not being a corrupt people in itself may be a factor that makes Swedes extra clueless and inclined to rationalize their behavior. As an organization, you can help your employees become more aware by creating forums where these issues are actively discussed. The LAN rule (as in Lantero) helps individuals to assess what is ok: Is it Legal? Is it Appropriate? Do I want to read about this in the Newspaper?

Nordic Business Ethics Network and The Swedish Anti-Corruption Institute (IMM, Institutet Mot Mutor) hosted a seminar on corruption and the rationalization by individuals.  Among other things the following issues were addressed:  Why do we engage in unethical behaviour?  Why don't we act when we encounter it? What can we do about it?  It is depressing to notice that the number of people who say that they have refrained from acting when encountering unethical behavior has increased since last year. This clearly shows that the topic is more relevant than ever.  Key takeaways from the webinar:  There is a common misconception that fraud and corruption have no victims. We need to see the bigger picture how fraud and other misconduct is destroying trust and in the long run seriously damages the business and society.  But we cannot simply rely on the individual to be strong enough to blow the whistle. We must not underestimate the loyalty to the team that often can be stronger than the will to be honest. It might not even be experienced as an unethical behavior when acting in accordance with the team spirit.  So what can we do? Establish relevant forums and keep talking about the issue. Normalize the subject. And most of all, walk the talk. Top management must make it clear what is accepted behavior. If employees engage in misconduct, in many cases they act in accordance with the defacto culture. Even if the policy says something else.   Please read the reports: Nordic business ethics10 förklaringsmodeller bakom mutor  

Anders Kompass received a lot of attention when he, as a high-ranking official within the UN, fought with his own organization to come to terms with systematic sexual abuse in the Central African Republic. Kompass left the UN in 2016 and made clear what he thought would need to happen to address the problems. In an article, he describes a feeling of déjà vu when a recent report shows that similar problems still persist. The case is somewhat typical in that the problem is mainly about the willingness to remedy the irregularities. Known problems are often swept under the rug if they become uncomfortable for senior management. As Kompass sees it, the solution is to build robust structures, with sufficient resources, strict independence and a clear mandate. Just as with the establishment of whistleblower systems, the reporting channel is only a small part of a larger puzzle, where the goal is mainly about building healthy organizational cultures.

In 2017, investigative journalists att TV show "Kalla fakta" uncovered extensive irregularities within the Swedish Public Property Agency. The trial is now underway where six people, including a former property manager at the authority, are suspected of bribery. (Article in Swedish)  The case is a clear example of a lack of control in public operations and an inability to act on malpractice. For several years the former employee Richard Lindvall pointed out the misconduct he saw to the General Manager of the authority, before he chose to go external with his suspicions. As a whistleblower in the case, he is now the main witness in the trial. (Article in Swedish) The case can be seen as an example of particularly nefarious individuals, or as a predictable result of a naive culture in the public sector, lax supervision and insufficient tools for the oversight bodies. As seen many times before, bribes seem especially prevalent where the public sector meets the private sector. What starts on a small scale is gradually growing, and where there are no individuals as owners, control seems to be laxer.  Richard Lindvall describes the frustration among officials within the National Audit Office over their insufficient tools. As new EU regulation will make whistleblower systems mandatory, the toolbox will be expanded. But it remains to be seen whether it will drive any actual change.

In the summer of 2021, the new ISO standard for whistleblower systems is expected to be published. Lantero is involved in the process through the SIS committee representing Sweden. The standard is voluntary and will be a guide for organizations to create robust and well-functioning whistleblower systems. The work with the standard takes into consideration that the conditions for different organizations differ greatly, but that there are many issues that can be addressed through common general principles.  While it can be difficult to set up general rules for how reporting or processing should be set up, it is possible to point out which issues need to be discussed, how one can reason about risk areas or possible conflict areas given industry, size or type of organization. A further challenge is, of course, that the standard should work internationally, despite the fact that the degree of maturity when it comes to whistleblower systems differs greatly and that organizations can function quite differently in different countries.

The new whistleblower directive from the EU will be implemented into national legislation from December 2021.  **In Sweden all organizations with more than 50 employees will be mandated to implement an internal whistleblower system, including authorities.  ** The Swedish 800 page committee report was submitted in June. The proposition includes: - The whistleblowers' anonymity needs to be guaranteed.   - Investigators need to be independent.   - Certain demands for how reporting can be conducted, e.g. both verbally and in writing.   - Investigations should be handled within a certain deadline and the whistleblower has the right to some information on the investigation findings.    - Data needs to be handled and stored in a safe manner.   - Fines for non-compliance should be deterrent.   - There needs to be someone appointed as responsible for the reporting channel. Lantero fullfils all the demand and closely follows the development to be able to offer a fully compliant solution. Contact us for more information!