Source: https://www.fma.gv.at/en/whistle-blowing-and-consumer-complaints-increase/
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has reported a marked increase in the number of whistleblowing reports in 2023. Over 3,000 citizens reached out to the FMA’s Consumer Information Point, with about one-quarter of these inquiries relating to complaints against entities supervised by the FMA’s whistleblower system. Additionally, the FMA received 432 whistleblowing submissions, marking an 82.3% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, 234 submissions fell under the FMA’s scope of supervision.
FMA’s Executive Directors, Helmut Ettl and Eduard Müller, remarked:
“Our web-based whistle-blowing platform is an important source of information for the supervisor. Reports made through it often uncover severe irregularities in supervised entities. The platform guarantees the reporting person absolute anonymity, while at the same time an anonymous mailbox allows anonymous communication between the authority and the whistle-blower… It allows irregularities to be detected at an early stage, thereby limiting the extent of, or even preventing damage from occurring.”
For more information, visit the official FMA press release.