New legislation regarding mandatory whistle blower systems for the financial sector will most likely come into force in Denmark in the beginning of 2014.
The upcoming Danish rules are based on the EU Directive regarding whistle blower systems in the financial sector.
According to the Danish legislative proposal, the whistle blower system shall give employees and board members the right to submit confidential reports on actual and possible breaches of different statutes. Furthermore, the rules will protect the whistle blower against negative consequences of any reports on such breaches.
The upcoming legislation will apply only to the financial sector, which includes financial companies, operators of regulated markets, clearing houses or central securities depositories, pension funds, payment institutions as well as LD (“Lønmodtagernes Dyrtidsfond”), ATP (“Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension”) and AES (”Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssygdomssikring”)
The establishment of a whistle blower system will be comprised by the Act on Processing of Personal Data as it will involve processing of personal data and in particular data concerning criminal offences. Therefore, the Danish Data Protection Agency requires that the new whistle blower systems are approved by the Agency before the systems may be applied.
Due to the Danish administration, companies affected by the new rules should apply to the Danish Data Protection Agency for approval of their general HR administration as soon as possible and no later than 8 November 2013, if such permission has not already been obtained. Furthermore, companies should prepare their application for approval of their new whistle blower systems which must be submitted no later than 15 January 2014.
You are most welcome to contact us for any further queries and you may contact our partner, attorney at law Mr Niels Christian Døcker by e-mail ncd@lundelmersandager.dk or attorney at law Anja Bülow Jensen by e-mail abj@lundelmersandager.dk.