Whistleblowing & misconduct
The cost of neglecting your whistleblowing arrangements
Whistleblowing and misconduct have been commonly reported as
front page news for some time. The long history of modern corporate
misconduct is often discussed with reference to the Enron scandal
in 2001. Almost 20 years on and corporate scandals continue to make
the headlines and damage reputations. The recent Wirecard fraud has
cost investors around $22.5bn and has caused many honest employees
to lose their jobs.
The financial benefits of effective whistleblowing arrangements
are now well understood, so much so that this is a key driver of
the EU Directive. All businesses are vulnerable to employee
misconduct. The Annual Fraud Indicator (2018) estimated the cost of
business fraud in the UK to be £190bn which averages out at
over £135,000 per business in the UK. The average cost of
fraud varies dramatically when weighted by headcount;
