Procedure for assessment and follow-up
Article 3
1. Reports of information on breaches received through the whistleblowing tool which refer to a high-level ECB official as a person to whom a breach is attributed or with whom that person is associated shall be followed up in accordance with Decision (EU) 2016/456 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2016/3) ( 3 ) where such reports fall within the scope of that Decision. 2. Where the reports of information on breaches referred to in paragraph 1 do not fall within the scope of Decision (EU) 2016/456 (ECB/2016/3), they shall be followed up in accordance with Administrative Circular 01/2006 on internal administrative inquiries ( 4 ) . 3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, the competent authority designated under Article 2 may: (a) prior to concluding whether or not the information received justifies an internal inquiry, forward the information received to the ECB’s Ethics Committee for its advice on the matter; (b) if they conclude that the information received justifies an internal administrative inquiry, decide, in derogation from Article 4(1) to (4) of Administrative Circular 01/2006, to directly open an administrative inquiry, and take the relevant decision in accordance with Article 4(5) and (6) of Administrative Circular 01/2006, including the possibility that the competent authority designated under Article 2 exceptionally decides to carry out the administrative inquiry themself, designating in this case either an individual or a panel, with adequate seniority, to conduct the inquiry.