Leading Whistleblower Attorney Files Letter Urging European Commission to Make Serious Changes to Proposed Directive

Stephen M. Kohn, partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto and pro bono Executive Director of the National Whistleblower Center (NWC), filed a letter on July 11, 2018, in response to the European Commission’s proposed whistleblower Directive. Kohn and his team formally submitted the letter within the European Commission website’s “Feedback” period and urged the Commission to amend the Directive and work with NWC to ensure EU whistleblowers are fully protected when reporting corruption, tax evasion, and bribery.

Kohn and his team commended the efforts of the European Commission to improve their protections for whistleblowers, but noticed several Articles in the proposed Directive that required serious changes. The necessary amendments are described in the 16-page letter, which was cosigned by Bradley Birkenfeld, the UBS Bank whistleblower who won the largest ever individual reward in history ($104 million) for reporting IRS Tax Fraud.

NWC’s primary concerns include provisions in the Directive that allow for companies to retaliate against private sector employees and emphasizing internal reporting before going to the proper law enforcement. NWC also highlights three anti-corruption conventions that are undermined by the Directive.

“Every citizen must have the unrestricted right to report crimes to law enforcement. This right is the foundation of the rule of law,” Kohn said in a press release issued by NWC.

NWC also advises the European Commission to adopt U.S.-style reward laws to incentivize whistleblowers who have inside information. The False Claims Act contains qui tam provisions that allow for financial rewards for whistleblowers and protections under the U.S. government. Since the act was amended in 1986, the U.S. government has recovered billions of dollars for taxpayers, holding companies in the public and private sector accountable for their fraudulent or corrupt activities.

Since Mr. Birkenfeld blew the whistle on Swiss banks using American whistleblower laws, the United States has collected over $16.7 billion USD in fines and penalties from banks and individual account holders.

“Whistleblowers are the key source of information about financial frauds and they must be fully protected and incentivized,” Birkenfeld said in the press release. “The proposed EU Directive fails to achieve these goals and as a result must be strengthened. Citizens of the EU deserve justice over corruption.”

Kohn offered to work with the European Parliament to establish effective whistleblower laws that have proven to work in the United States. “The Directive is a first step toward European-wide whistleblower protections. We must ensure that this critical first step is effective. We look forward to working with the European Parliament in improving the current directive,” Kohn added.