KPMG launches whistleblowing hotline service for UK companies

KPMG Forensic has launched a confidential whistleblowing hotline service for UK companies to provide to their staff. This comes as KPMG’s Fraud Barometer showed that insider fraud committed by management or staff accounted for over half (£330m out of £650m) of all fraud coming to court in the first half of 2006.

KPMG’s service – Ethics Line – is an independent 24-hour whistleblowing hotline which enables employees to raise genuine concerns about possible fraudulent or improper conduct in confidence, allowing their organisation to take prompt and effective action. This service has been successfully operated by KPMG in other jurisdictions for a number of years. It is now being offered to UK companies.

David Luijerink, director at KPMG Forensic, said: “Colleagues sometimes suspect that fraudulent activity is going on but are reluctant to report or ‘blow the whistle’ due to lack of confidence in internal reporting systems, or fear of victimisation or retribution. Employers should do all they can to remove these obstacles, and a whistleblowing hotline is one element of the solution. Statistics suggest that up to 50 percent of frauds are discovered following an employee blowing the whistle.”

A hotline not only helps avoid employees turning a blind eye to suspicions of unlawful activity, but it also reduces the risk of them going outside the organisation with their concerns, potentially causing unnecessary financial and reputational damage.

•Date: 14th Dec 2006• Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: Operational risk
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