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1. The Director-General shall direct the conduct of investigations on the basis, where appropriate, of written instructions. Investigations shall be conducted under his or her direction by the staff of the Office designated by him or her. The Director-General shall not personally carry out concrete investigative acts.

2. The staff of the Office shall carry out their tasks on production of a written authorisation showing their identity and their capacity. The Director-General shall issue such authorisation indicating the subject matter and the purpose of the investigation, the legal bases for conducting the investigation and the investigative powers stemming from those bases.

3. The competent authorities of Member States shall give the necessary assistance to enable the staff of the Office to fulfil their tasks in accordance with this Regulation effectively and without undue delay. When providing such assistance, the competent authorities of Member States shall act in accordance with any national procedural rules applicable to them.

3a. At the request of the Office, which shall be explained in writing, in relation to matters under investigation, the relevant competent authorities of the Member States shall, under the same conditions as those that apply to the national competent authorities, provide the Office with the following:

(a) information available in the centralised automated mechanisms referred to in Article 32a(3) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council ();

(b) where strictly necessary for the purposes of the investigation, the record of transactions. The request of the Office shall include a justification of the appropriateness and proportionality of the measure with regard to the nature and gravity of the matters under investigation. Such request shall refer only to information referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph. Member States shall notify to the Commission the relevant competent authorities for the purposes of points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph.

3b. The institutions, bodies, offices and agencies shall ensure that their officials, other servants, members, heads and staff members provide the necessary assistance to enable the staff of the Office to fulfil their tasks effectively and without undue delay.

4. Where an investigation combines external and internal elements, Articles 3 and 4 shall apply respectively.

5. Investigations shall be conducted continuously over a period which must be proportionate to the circumstances and complexity of the case.

6. Where investigations show that it might be appropriate to take precautionary administrative measures to protect the financial interests of the Union, the Office shall without delay inform the institution, body, office or agency concerned of the investigation in progress. The information supplied shall include the following:

(a) the identity of the official, other servant, member of an institution or body, head of office or agency, or staff member concerned and a summary of the facts in question;

(b) any information that could assist the institution, body, office or agency concerned in deciding on the appropriate precautionary administrative measures to be taken in order to protect the financial interests of the Union;

(c) any special measures of confidentiality recommended, in particular in cases entailing the use of investigative measures falling within the competence of a national judicial authority or, in the case of an external investigation, within the competence of a national authority, in accordance with the national rules applicable to investigations.

The institution, body, office or agency concerned may at any time consult the Office with a view to taking, in close cooperation with the Office, any appropriate precautionary measures, including measures for the safeguarding of evidence. The institution, body, office or agency concerned shall inform the Office without delay about any precautionary measures taken.

7. Where necessary, it shall be for the competent authorities of the Member States, at the Office’s request, to take the appropriate precautionary measures under their national law, in particular measures for the safeguarding of evidence.

8. If an investigation cannot be closed within 12 months after it has been opened, the Director-General shall, at the expiry of that 12-month period and every six months thereafter, report to the Supervisory Committee, indicating the reasons and, where appropriate, the remedial measures envisaged with a view to speeding up the investigation.