84 2014 - When the Whistle Blows at Your Company

Instructor: Lynn Fountain
Description:
Whistleblower hotlines are a typical technique utilized by companies to enhance their anti-fraud controls. Yet surveys show that employees often do not trust the hotlines or their intent.
The tactics of hotlines are simple - provide professionals a confidential manner to report complaints. Sarbanes-Oxley provided the impetus for organizations to take a closer look at their complaint reporting process. Now, 10 years post the original Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, hotlines is considered one of the essential tools for organizations to appropriately manage their compliance programs. The effectiveness of hotlines can be varied dependent on how it is managed and administered. In addition, management's attention and response to hotline calls is an important aspect of maintaining an effective and positive control environment. The Audit Committee of public companies is responsible for ensuring a confidential and effective complaint reporting process and should fully understand processes as well as information that come through the hotlines.
In the advent of new regulation which allows whistleblowers to go outside internal lines of defense to report miss-doings, companies should be strategically aware of their programs and the effectiveness and perceptions of their programs. Audit Committees, senior management and all professionals should understand the important implications that hotlines provide.
Frank-Dodd legislation has provided employees with incentives to side-step corporate complaint processes and go directly to federal agencies. Corporations are at a disadvantage when attempting to execute their fiduciary duty of complaint investigation. As regulatory enforcement against fraud is increasing, the Dodd-Frank provisions have the potential to expand fraud prosecution dramatically.Final rules give whistleblowers incentives to report possible violations internally before tipping off the SEC.
Rules stop short of requiring internal reporting.Whistleblowers are eligible for awards of up to 30% of recoveries from SEC enforcement actions leading to sanctions of more than $1 million.
Why Should you Attend:
Why do we teach history in our schools? It is important we understand the history and evolution of a process to learn from our success and failures. Knowing where we have come from allows us to plot a solid course for the future.
In this webinar, we will stretch beyond the normal leading practice concepts and delve into psychological theories and evaluations.Evaluating and analyzing past incidents.Whenever human behavior is involved, peering into past scenarios can teach us a great deal about what concepts work and which don't.Making the process better requires more than just following "leading practice steps". You must understand the "why's", "how's" and "what's"
Objectives of the Presentation:
Impetus of whistleblower hotlines
Understanding the whistleblower
Famous whistleblowers
Methods for managing, investigating and reporting hotline complaints
Legislation supporting the process of managing and investigating complaints
Corporate Social Responsibility for effective programs
Board and management responsibilities for adequate avenues for compliant processing
Who can Benefit:
Auditors
Compliance Professionals
Legal Professional
Board
CEOs
CFOs
All professionals
http://www.onlinecompliancepanel.com/ecommerce/web...