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Half of European Investment Bank staff fear reprisals if they speak up about misconduct, according to the findings of the first survey on whistleblowing mechanisms at the world’s biggest multilateral lender.
The results reflect widespread and long-standing disquiet, shared with the Financial Times by more than 10 current and former employees, about the culture at the Luxembourg-based EU bank, whose former president Werner Hoyer is under investigation on suspicion of corruption and misuse of funds.
The bank’s internal survey, taken in 2023, shows that 50 per cent of staff feared “repercussion” if they reported any misconduct including bullying, harassment or fraud claims. Only 14 per cent were satisfied with the outcome after they had spoken up over such misconduct, according to a leaked presentation seen by the FT.
The findings come at a critical time for the famously insular institution, which Hoyer once described as “growing more or less undetected in the woods of Luxembourg”. EU capitals, under pressure to fund the bloc’s ambitious green transition and defence needs, are increasingly looking to the EIB and its €550bn balance sheet to meet those demands.
EIB staff told the FT that a perceived lack of oversight and the political nature of appointments at the top of the bank have resulted in a culture of favouritism and opaque HR processes.
“Many members of staff are afraid to speak up, fear retaliation and do not believe that corrective action is/will be taken,” said an opinion from the EIB’s staff representatives, attached to the survey results.
Only 40 per cent thought the bank would protect employees who reported issues in good faith and would take their concerns seriously, according to a separate presentation of the same survey obtained through a freedom of information request.
Earlier EIB staff surveys show consistently low satisfaction with the bank’s ethical standards. In 2019, only 30 per cent of surveyed staff considered the bank ranked high in professionalism, ethics and integrity. In 2022, this had risen only slightly to 35 per cent.
The bank has a whistleblower policy in place but several current and former employees told the FT it failed to assure them they would be protected when reporting concerns in good faith. One described it as “dysfunctional”.
The EIB said the survey results showed “strong awareness” of the code of conduct and “willingness to act as witnesses for observed cases” but also highlighted “areas for further improvement”, including confidence in whistleblower protection.
It added that the results were “comparable” with other international organisations and that the bank was putting in place “a series of measures to further improve conditions”.
The EIB’s new president, former Spanish finance minister Nadia Calviño, has pledged to reinvigorate the bank and build a better relationship with staff as she seeks to push the EIB towards more ambitious lending policies.
Calviño, in an internal note to staff seen by the FT, said the launch of an internal management action plan, including the appointment of an independent ombudsman, would promote “early actions to avoid escalation of conflict, stronger procedures to deal with harassment and more information to whistleblowers and affected parties”.
But former staffers questioned the bank’s ability to turn things around unless the ombudsman is truly independent from EIB management.
“After the last 12 years, staff are in sort of a trauma. This cannot simply be healed by throwing some points on a piece of paper,” another former employee said.
The bank said the ombudsperson would be an “independent service” akin to that of other institutions such as the European Commission and European Central Bank. Details of its remit “are still being worked out”, it said.
Hoyer, who was the bank’s president between 2012 and 2023, and a former spokesperson for the EIB’s staff representation are under investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of corruption and misuse of funds.
The investigation is centred on a payment of more than €1mn made to the employee by the bank, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.
Both have denied any wrongdoing. Hoyer’s lawyer said “the allegations of corruption and abuse of influence, as well as the misappropriation of EU funds against Dr Hoyer are completely unfounded and baseless”.
Additional reporting by Javier Espinoza and Laura Dubois in Brussels
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