The German Whistleblower Protection Act was (finally) passed on 12 May 2023, after several attempts, following final amendments proposed by the Mediation Committee on 9 May 2023, which have now been accepted by the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat). The long overdue law serves to implement the European Whistleblower Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1937), which actually provided for an implementation deadline of December 2021. The law will now come into force in mid-June 2023.

In a recent Baker McKenzie global survey, 87% of senior lawyers expressed concern about facing an internal investigation in 2023 – a 22% increase from last year. At the same time, data privacy concerns, new regulations – including the EU Whistleblowing Directive – and a rising focus on ESG considerations are further compounding the challenges for organizations in this space. Explore the drivers for whistleblowing and investigations activity, key regional trends and steps to overcome common compliance pitfalls.

Most major companies have implemented a compliance program but often struggle with two issues: ensuring the compliance program remains effective in light of their existing and changing landscape and making it more efficient by leveraging technology. The Compliance Cockpit specifically addresses both issues.

The European Whistleblowing Directive (WBD) was supposed to be implemented by the European Union’s 27 member states by no later than 17th December 2021, impacting employers with operations in those jurisdictions.
This article looks at what those key challenges are and the unique support we can offer in helping global employers harmonize their global approach to managing whistleblowing reports within the prescriptive requirements of the WBD.

The German Bundestag passed the German Whistleblower Protection Act on 16 December 2022. After initially not being expected to be passed this year, the bill did make it onto the agenda of the last session day of the year at short notice and was passed in a version amended by the Legal Affairs Committee (Rechtsausschuss) with the coalition’s majority. The next step is for the Bundesrat to approve the bill. However, this is not expected until the first plenary session in February 2023 at the earliest.

The EU Whistleblower Directive has been in force since 16 December 2019, and was to be implemented in national law by 17 December 2021. On 27 July 2022, the German Federal Cabinet approved a government draft of the Whistleblower Protection Act, so that — with considerable delay — the further legislative process has been initiated.

Baker McKenzie invites you to join our Dinner 4 Charity on October 23, 2016. Together with the head chef of the German National Soccer team, Holger Stromberg, we will be hosting a charity dinner for a children’s hospice in Munich.

Did you ever wonder why your company lost a lawsuit although the merits of the case were on your side? Did you ever ask yourself whether your company could have reached better results when dealing with government authorities? Would you like to take advantage of the psychological effects on individuals…

We asked Mini vandePol (Head of the Baker & McKenzie Global and Asia-Pacific Compliance Practice Group) and Joanna Ludlam (Head of the Baker & McKenzie EMEA Compliance Practice Group) 10 questions about current compliance trends and developments. Here are their answers which every compliance professional should read attentively: Mini vandePol (Hong Kong)…

18 July 2014 – On 25 June, 2014, the French Cour de cassation strengthened external legal counsel’s rights during dawn raids in the course of competition investigations. The court annulled numerous dawn raids that had taken place at a bank’s premises in early 2008. It substantiated the aforementioned decision in…