Whistleblowing services
A whistleblowing program is not just window dressing. It is a fundamental part of ethical business conduct, designed to foster an environment where everyone feels safe, respected, and able to speak up. An estimated 49% of fraud cases are detected by tip-offs¹
It’s not as simple as just putting in a hotline. While the system you choose to operate is critical, organizations must also take steps to ensure that both whistleblowers and the concerns that they raise are triaged, managed, and resolved in line with both national and international laws and regulations.
At EY, we help organizations to develop and implement the right whistleblowing systems to manage fraud risks and to build a stronger culture of trust and integrity.
EY teams can help you to:
- Design and implement an end-to-end whistleblowing framework
- Review the effectiveness of your existing whistleblowing process, including comparisons with prevailing regulations and industry best practice
- Provide triage and investigation support during a whistleblowing incident
- Implement EY Managed Services offerings (including the EY GDPR- and EU Directive-compliant cloud-based services or the EY speak-up app) or make recommendations for an external whistleblower hotline.
EU Directive on Whistleblowing: a global issue
As of 17th December 2021, the EU Directive on Whistleblowing requires every company or public body in the EU that has 250 or more employees to implement its own internal reporting policy for whistleblowing. By December 2023, this number reduces to 50 or more employees.
This affects not only EU companies. Multinational organizations operating in Europe that apply a single, global whistleblowing policy must decide whether their current system fits with the EU’s exacting requirements. And if not, they need to assess what needs to be done to comply with both EU and national legislations.
For more information on the EU Directive and to help ensure that you are compliant, please contact us.