Danske Bank Whistleblower, Howard Wilkinson, awarded Allard Prize for International Integrity

In 2020, Howard Wilkinson was awarded the Allard Prize for International Integrity for his involvement uncovering a multi-billion dollar money laundering scandal at his former employer, Danske Bank. The revelations lead to major fines both in Europe and in the United States, the resignation of the bank’s chairman, and the cessation of operations by the bank in Estonia. Mr Wilkinson gave the following speech upon accepting the prize.

What are whistleblowers?

We are citizens. As citizens, we can’t just delegate everything to governments, prosecutors, the media or anyone else – sometimes we have an individual role to play.

I’ve heard that whistleblowers are disloyal to their employers. But it’s actually the opposite – whistleblowers are surely the most loyal employees of all because whistleblowing is an attempt to prevent damage to their employers. Ask current Danske Bank leadership how much damage could have been prevented.

In Eastern Europe, the other common criticism is that whistleblowing is like being a KGB snitch. Get serious! We are on a completely different level to reporting your neighbour for celebrating Christmas or saying something bad about the Communist party.

Some crime or wrongdoing simply can’t be picked up from outside an organisation; and sometimes the management in organisations covers up wrongdoing, even when they are fully aware of it. That’s why whistleblowers are so important if we are to build the sort of civil society we all want to live in.

It’s been a crazy six plus years since I sent my first whistleblowing email on 27 December 2013. So are we all in a better place now than then? I think yes.

In Europe, the Whistleblowing Directive has come into force, recognising the importance of whistleblowers and guaranteeing a minimum level of protection. Many played important roles in advocating for the directive, notably Transparency International.

Now EU member states have to transpose the directive into local laws. Will that be done in the spirit of the directive or in an attempt to dilute it as far as possible? That’s the next challenge and I’d urge those who advocated for the Directive to keep up pressure on member states to implement the directive in a maximalist way.

Here in the UK too, there seems to be an increasing acceptance that our Public Interest Disclosure Act from 1998, giving a level of whistleblower protection, is no longer fit for purpose and needs updating.

But all too often one reads stories of whistleblowers being essentially punished for what they did. And I don’t mean me – I was able to move countries and carry on life, albeit with unwelcome publicity. Others have been ruined by their whistleblowing - not just financially as in some cases the pressures led to the break-up of their families. As citizens, this is not something that any of us should accept. We should welcome the important work that whistleblower organisations such as the National Whistleblower Center in the US and Whistleblowers UK carry out. But we should strive to ensure that whistleblowers are respected, if not cherished.

Thank you very much for honouring me with the Allard Prize. It sends out loud and clear the message that whistleblowing is important and that whistleblowers should be valued in building the sort of civil society we all want to live in.