|
|
Article: The whistleblower hotline quandary: diverse whistleblower systems around the globe--and hotlines deemed illegal in France--are creating problems for companies seeking to operate uniform, global systems. Three attorneys review the issues and discuss possible solutions.(governance)
- Article from:
- Financial Executive
- Article date:
- November 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Financial Executives International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
A section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed into law in the U.S. in 2002, mandates that audit committees of public companies establish procedures intended to provide employees with the opportunity to submit (confidentially and anonymously) concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters without fear of retaliation.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Companies have typically responded to this requirement (Section 301) by establishing an employee whistleblower hotline (either telephone- or web-based). Conversely, the French Data Protection Authority (known as "CNIL") recently deemed such hotlines to be illegal. The conflict between Sarbanes-Oxley and ...