The procedures that apply to reports of infringements are set out in more detail in a circular of the FSMA (available in Dutch and French only).
Reporting persons may report an infringement to the FSMA after having first reported it through the internal reporting channels of the entity concerned, or they may report it straight to the FSMA.
Reports are handled within the FSMA by dedicated staff members who are trained in handling them. They are the ones who maintain contact with the reporting person where the latter has provided his/her contact details.
The reports received will be stored in a confidential and secure system. Access to the system is subject to restrictions ensuring that the data stored therein is available only to the persons within the FSMA for whom access to that data is necessary to fulfil their professional duties.
The FSMA will immediately, and in any event no later than within 7 days of the date of receipt of the report, acknowledge receipt via the contact details the reporting person has provided, unless the reporting person explicitly requested otherwise or the dedicated staff members reasonably believe that this would jeopardize the protection of the reporting person's identity. The acknowledgement of receipt only confirms that the reporting person concerned has reported information via the Whistleblowers' Point of contact or in paper format, and the date when the said information was reported. This acknowledgement does not, however, confirm that the information in question is indeed a whistleblower’s report, for which legal protection is due.
Persons who report information via the telephone line or at a physical meeting are offered the opportunity to check, rectify and agree with the transcript of the report by signing it, and receive a copy.
If the reporting person has provided his or her contact details, the FSMA will, within 6 weeks, send the person a confirmation of whether or not his/her report concerns an infringement of the financial legislation with which the FSMA supervises compliance. Such confirmation will not be sent if the reporting person explicitly requested otherwise or if the dedicated staff members reasonably believe that doing so would jeopardize the protection of that person's identity. In exceptional cases, this period of 6 weeks may be extended.
The FSMA diligently follows up on the reports. The FSMA assesses the accuracy of the allegations made in the report and, where relevant, addresses the infringement reported, e.g. by imposing measures or sanctions. The FSMA can, after due assessment of a report, also decide that it does not require further follow-up other than closure of the procedure, e.g. when a reported infringement is clearly minor or in case of repeated reports which do not add any meaningful new information to a previous report in respect of which the relevant procedures have been concluded. In the event of high inflows of reports, the FSMA can also prioritize the treatment of reports of serious infringements or infringements of essential provisions falling within its supervision.
If it turns out that the report is not of an infringement of the financial legislation with which the FSMA supervises compliance, the reporting person will, where appropriate, be referred to the channel within the FSMA that can help him or her further. If the FSMA considers that it is not the FSMA but other authorities who are competent to handle a reported infringement, or that other authorities are competent alongside the FSMA, it transmits the report to the federal coordinator within a reasonable time and in a secure manner. Moreover, if the (other) competent authority is competent for addressing infringements of the provisions regarding financial services, products and markets or for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, the FSMA can transmit the report directly to that (other) authority. In those cases, the report will be transmitted unchanged so that the (other) competent authority can usefully handle the report. The reporting person shall be informed of that transmission to the (other) competent authority via the contact details he has left.
