Whistleblowing Hotline

The KPMG firms in Belgium (hereafter KPMG in Belgium) set internal policies which encourage and require its people to act with ethics, integrity and objectivity, to perform their work with reasonable competence and diligence and to comply with applicable laws, regulations and professional standards at all times.

If you are KPMG client or supplier, or any third party who knows of any wrongdoing or malpractice of KPMG in Belgium or its people or believes in good faith that such issues are occurring at KPMG in Belgium, you are encouraged to speak up.

KPMG in Belgium has established whistle-blowing hotlines (hereafter “the Hotline”) to facilitate the reporting of such matters.

The Hotline has been established in implementation of applicable KPMG policies. and in implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the “Directive”) and the Law of November 28, 2022 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law or national law established within a legal entity in the private sector (the “Law”). 

The Belgian Hotline process is designed to be used for reporting matters relating to:

• claims and complaints against KPMG in Belgium and its personnel
• violations of the Code of Conduct;
• bribery (including gifts)
• professional, regulatory or legal obligations and engagement quality;
• current or prospective regulatory inquiries including requests for evidence;
• the financial interests of the European Union;
• the internal market of the European Union including competition and state aid;
• infringements covering one of the following areas:
  • public procurement;
  • financial services, products and markets, prevention of money laundering and counter-terrorism;
  • product safety and product compliance;
  • transport safety;
  • protection of the environment;
  • radiation protection and nuclear safety;
  • food and feed safety, animal health and welfare;
  • public health;
  • consumer protection;
  • protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information systems;
  • tax fraud;
  • social fraud

KPMG International also maintains a reporting hotline that can be used by KPMG personnel and third parties. The KPMG International Hotline is accessible via the same link as the Belgian Hotline by selecting KPMG International as entity. The KPMG International Hotline is not governed by Belgian or EU laws.

Reports made through the Hotline may only concern potential wrongdoings or malpractices of KPMG in Belgium and its people (including subcontractors) and not potential wrongdoings or malpractices of its clients or suppliers. 

KPMG in Belgium has established hotlines for the legal entities below and has appointed a whistleblower officer per hotline to handle the reports:

• KPMG Advisory BV
• KPMG Bedrijfsrevisoren/ Réviseurs d’Entreprises BV
• KPMG Tax, Legal & Accountancy BV/ KPMG Tax Services BV
• KPMG Central Services ESV
• KPMG Law BV
• KPMG Deal Advisory BV

The relevant whistleblower officer shall consult with members of the Quality and Risk Management department, the Professional Practice department, the Ethics and Independence department, the Office of General Counsel (OGC) the Human Resources Department and/or the prevention adviser of the Belgian KPMG network.

You can report concerns in relation to KPMG in Belgium by accessing a web-based reporting system at www.clearviewconnects.com. You can report concerns in Dutch, French or English. The Clearview System has been set-up in English but you are not obliged to report in English.

The Web site is available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. All reports are handled confidentially, as prescribed by law.

Given the measures that are in place to ensure the confidentiality of reports and the details of individuals making reports, we encourage you to give your name and contact details when making your report. Your identity, as well any other information from which your identity can be directly or indirectly deduced, will be kept confidential at all stages of the process and will not be disclosed without your free and express consent to third parties, individuals who are the subject of your report or to your line managers. The exceptions to this include (i) if disclosure would be required in order to guarantee feedback or (ii) if it constitutes a necessary and proportionate obligation under special legislation in the context of investigations by national authorities or judicial proceedings, including to safeguard the rights of defense of the involved parties (an involved person being a natural or legal person named in the report as a person to whom the breach is attributed or with whom that person is associated). However, if you wish to make your report anonymously, using the website facility then you will receive a password which will enable you to access the “Clearview Connects” case management system. This will allow us to communicate directly with you whilst preserving anonymity. We encourage you to access the case management system on a regular basis in order to check if additional information is requested. If you forget or mislay your password then you will have to submit a new report in order to regain access to the system; in this event it would be helpful if you could refer to the previously submitted report to enable us to make the appropriate connections. 

A report made via the Hotline should be sufficiently detailed and documented, and should at least include the following details (when the relevant information is known):

• a detailed description of the general nature of the reported events (giving as much specific information as possible about the type of concern and the identity of the parties involved);
• a detailed description of how and when the reported events came to the attention of the reporting person;
• date and place of the reported events;
• the names and job positions of the persons involved, or information that enables their identification;
• the names of other persons, if any, who can attest to the reported facts;
• whether you suspect that a supervisor or someone in leadership is involved;
• whether anyone within KPMG in Belgium is aware of the reported events and whether anyone tried to cover up or hide the existence of the reported events;
• whether you previously reported or attempted to report the reported events to anyone, and to whom;
• how the reported events harm or could potentially harm KPMG (in terms of financial, reputational, or other risks);
• any other information or element that could help the whistleblower officer to verify the facts.

Your report will be reviewed by the relevant whistleblower officer. The whistleblower officer is engaged by the relevant Belgian KPMG entity to carry out investigations arising from the report and recommend appropriate actions and is in principle a member of the Quality and Risk Management department. If therefore your report concerns the relevant whistleblower officers or a member of the Belgian quality and risk management, then you have the option to check a box to indicate this; in this case the report will be received by another appropriate whistleblower officer who will determine the appropriate course of action after discussing the matter with leadership of the relevant Belgian KPMG entity. Depending on the nature of the matter being reported, the help of a specialist can be called upon to undertake the investigation (e.g. internal audit).

If your report is identified as being related to another Belgian KPMG entity, the whistleblower officer initially receiving the report shall refer the matter to the relevant whistleblower officer, in principle upon approval of the reporting person.

Where a report is identified as being outside the scope of the Hotline by reference to the subject matter to which it relates, and as a result KPMG in Belgium has no legal basis to investigate, the case will be closed and a notice will be sent to the reporting person which states, inter alia, that the case will be closed in the Clearview system (as it is outside of the scope of the hotline) but will provide them with advice on who may be able to help them in respect of the matter that they have reported.

Where a report is identified as being outside the scope of the Hotline by reference to the non - Belgian KPMG member firm to which it relates the whistleblower officer initially receiving the report shall contact the reporting person. The whistleblower officer shall in principle only refer the matter to the relevant non- Belgian KPMG member firm upon approval of the reporting person. The whistleblower officer will inform the reporting person accordingly.

Please note that certain legal obligations as well as international contractual obligations applicable within the KPMG Network may require the KPMG entity in Belgium which originally received the report to transmit certain reported events to the relevant KPMG member firm for further handling or to report such events to leadership.

In case of referral to a (Belgian or non- Belgian) KPMG member firm your report will be subject to appropriate confidentiality and non - retaliation policy.

Within seven days of receipt of the report, an acknowledgment of receipt will be provided to you. The report will be promptly and diligently investigated.

If we can communicate with you, the whistleblower officer may get in contact with you to obtain more information and/or evidence about the reported events. Not later than three months after the acknowledgement of receipt, you will receive feedback through the Hotline about the (ongoing or concluded) investigation of your report. To the extent legally permitted, you will be informed of the final outcome of an investigation and the final outcome will also be reported to the management of the relevant Belgian KPMG entity. 

KPMG in Belgium is working with Canada based Clearview Strategic Partners, a third party administrator of web-based hotline services to operate the Hotline. Using external providers helps to maintain the confidentiality of anyone filing a report and also helps to maintain the anonymity of those who choose to remain anonymous. If you chose to report anonymously, KPMG in Belgium will not seek to identify you. However, you should be aware that in order to conduct an appropriate investigation into the matters raised by you, it may be necessary for us to advise others of the substance of your report (see above.3). As such your identity may become apparent and you should consider this before reporting any matter. All internal and external parties involved in the investigation and in follow-up actions are subject to strict confidentiality obligations.

On the other hand, you have the obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the matter you have reported and this for as long as the investigation is pending (without prejudice to the possibility of making an external reporting, cfr. under 8).

KPMG in Belgium undertakes that no one who reports any concern under this policy in good faith will be subjected to any form of retaliation (such as, but not limited to, early termination or cancellation of a contract for the supply of goods or services, suspension, ) on the sole ground that the report made in good faith was found to be unjust.

In the event that a reporting person believes that they are being victimized or subjected to any form of retaliation by any person within KPMG in Belgium as a result of reporting a concern or assisting KPMG in Belgium in any investigation under this policy they must inform their relevant whistleblower officer immediately and appropriate action will be taken to protect them from any form of retaliation.

Furthermore, in the event that a reporting person believes that they are being victimized or threatened with retaliation, they may file a reasoned complaint with the federal coordinator (“federale coördinator” / “coordinateur fédéral”).

KPMG in Belgium is keen to hear of any concerns that KPMG people may have about wrongdoing or malpractice at work and encourages all disclosures made in good faith. If, however, it should become clear that the procedure has not been invoked in good faith, for example for purely malicious reasons, this will constitute misconduct and will be dealt with in accordance with the applicable contractual provisions and other applicable rules and legislation. Without prejudice to other measures provided for in the Law or other contractual, legal or administrative provisions, reporting persons shall be punished in accordance with articles 443 to 450 of the Criminal Code if it is established that they have intentionally reported false information. Persons who suffer damages as a result of such reports are entitled to compensation measures in accordance with contractual or extra-contractual liability.

It is strongly recommended to first consider reporting misconduct through the internal KPMG Hotline. Internal reporting remains the most efficient route to allow KPMG in Belgium to thoroughly investigate the matter and adopt appropriate measures addressing the misconduct.

It is possible to report misconduct via the federal coordinator, via this link: https://www.federaalombudsman.be/nl/meldingsformulier.

Reporting persons are protected against retaliation when the report is made via an external reporting channel. This protection applies provided that the reporting person had reasonable grounds to believe that the reported information about violations was accurate at the time the report was made and that such information was within the scope of the Law, and thus within one of the following categories:

• the financial interests of the European Union;
• the internal market of the European Union including competition and state aid;
• infringements covering one of the following areas:
  • public procurement;
  • financial services, products and markets, prevention of money laundering and counter-terrorism;
  • product safety and product compliance;
  • transport safety;
  • protection of the environment;
  • radiation protection and nuclear safety;
  • food and feed safety, animal health and welfare;
  • public health;
  • consumer protection;
  • protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information systems;
  • tax fraud;
  • social fraud

The reporting person does not lose the benefit of protection on the sole ground that the report made in good faith was found to be false or unfounded.