The Whistleblowers’ Champion will be on the front line of compliance in regulated firms. They will have responsibility for ensuring that there is an effective whistleblowing process in place, for reporting to the board on whistleblowing matters and, in some cases, will be required to step-in to ensure that whistleblowers are dealt with in an appropriate manner, such as ensuring that arrangements are in place for protecting whistleblowers against detrimental treatment. Given the fact that the Champion must also be a member of the Senior Manager’s team (typically a non-executive director), for the first time, a senior person will be in the front line of regulatory scrutiny if something goes awry.

On 24 November 2016 at 18:00  our employment team will be holding the first of a series of occasional round-table meetings for Whistleblower Champions (or for senior members or their advisory teams) in regulated firms to discuss their experiences of the new regime. The meeting will take place under “Chatham House rules”, meaning that all discussions will take place on a confidential and non- attributable basis.

The agenda would be kept reasonably fluid to allow people to share their own experiences and thoughts on best practice, but topics for a facilitated discussion might include:

• how to channel employee issues down the most appropriate procedure e.g. grievance procedure, harassment procedure or whistle blowing procedure;
• how to protect legal professional privilege, particularly where the whistle blower raises a regulatory concern;
• how to deal with the regulator;
• what resources are the Champions able to access and are there any conflicts of interest that might arise?;
• what format is the report on disclosures to take?

Spaces for the roundtable are limited and booking is on a first come, first served basis.

Please email Carmel Aukett in order to book your place.