Veil Jourde Mornings | Internal investigations and whistle-blowers: between transparency and confidentiality

Faced with the multiplication of recent whistleblower cases, companies are increasingly faced with the challenge of reconciling confidentiality, which guarantees their interests and stability, with transparency.

As part of our “Veil Jourde Mornings” cycle dedicated to “Transparency”, Thomas Amico and Claudio Interdonato discussed this growing friction.

Key points at the heart of their discussions:

— The founding texts of the legal frameworks linked to whistleblowers: the Sapin II Law, Directive 2019/1937, as well as the Waserman Law, which proposes an extended definition of the whistleblower and strengthens his protection.

— The criminal penalties that can be imposed on anyone seeking to obstruct a whistleblower; failure to set up an internal whistleblowing system could in future be considered by the public prosecutor’s office as an offence of obstruction.

— Best practices to be adopted by companies: vigilance with regard to hashtag#alert processing times, the adoption of dedicated channels to manage alerts, the need to preserve the integrity of evidence and provide for traceability of the evidence collection process (via forensic companies).

— The essential role of the lawyer in internal investigation procedures, bound by professional secrecy, unlike external consultancy bodies.

— The existence of innovative, digital solutions (EQS Group) enabling companies to facilitate alert management and reporting, compliant with the regulations of each country (RGPD compliance) and using the latest technological innovations (AI).

We would like to warmly thank Claudio Interdonato for his insight and presence, as well as all the participants.