Managing and Auditing Whistleblowing Systems
Understanding best practices in whistleblowing, what to know about investigations and how to enable employees to speak up
Financial accounting fraud in capital markets represents a grave threat to companies and the public interest. Whistleblowing can be an important deterrent to fraud.
However, blowing the whistle is fraught with challenges and obstacles. How can organizations and, in particular, internal auditors design and manage effective whistleblowing mechanisms to increase accountability and trust and uncover misconduct?
Watch this free 60-minute webinar about whistleblowing: the issues involved and how to manage internal systems.
This webinar was presented on November 1, 2023, by Smith Business Insight and the CPA Ontario Centre for Corporate Reporting and Professionalism. Bertrand Malsch, associate professor of accounting at Smith, moderates a discussion with a panel of experts: Pamela Forward, president of the Whistleblowing Canada Research Society; Charles Cron, director of inspections at the Canadian Public Accountability Board; and Danny Weill, executive vice-president at ALIAS Solution.
Participants learn:
- Best practices of successful whistleblowing policies and implementation strategies
- How external auditors can effectively assess whistleblowing systems
- How to encourage whistleblowing and enable people to tell the truth
- What it means to be a whistleblower and the challenges with speaking up
- What to consider when launching whistleblowing investigations (including cultural and inclusion issues)
Following the presentation there is an audience Q&A with our speakers.
About the CPA Ontario Centre for Corporate Reporting and Professionalism
The CPA Ontario Centre for Corporate Reporting and Professionalism at Smith School of Business was established in 2021 thanks to the generous financial support of CPA Ontario. The centre’s goal is to promote creative and innovative ideas around corporate reporting reforms and the development of new forms of professional expertise. The centre also advocates for inclusion and recognition of the diversity of stakeholders beyond shareholders in defining good corporate reporting and professionalism.
Session Participants
Dr. Bertrand Malsch
Bertrand Malsch is an Associate Professor & PWC/Tom O'Neill Professor of Accounting at Smith School of Business and the 2020 recipient of the Award for Research Excellence. He is the author of numerous leading articles in international academic journals on the subject of auditing, accounting regulation and governance. His work has been presented in many scholarly and professional conferences around the world. He is a member of the Quebec Bar.
Danny Weill
Danny Weill is executive vice-president of ALIAS Solution, a leading Canadian-based whistleblowing/reporting and case management platform. He joined ALIAS in 2022 and positions ALIAS as the go-to solution for North American organizations seeking to create a culture of transparency, openness and accountability among stakeholders. Prior to joining ALIAS, Danny spent nine years as part of the leadership team with LifeSpeak, a leading global mental health and well-being platform. In addition to speaking at conferences and business schools across North America, Danny recently appeared before the Canadian House of Commons Heritage Committee as an expert on safe sport.
Pamela Forward
Pamela Forward is a workplace mediator and researcher. Her experience includes both management and advisory positions at the national and international levels and her career includes working in government (federal public service and adviser to federal cabinet ministers), business and health care. Her interest in whistleblowing advocacy began in the 1990s when she joined with others to support whistleblowers in the federal public service. She recently completed an in-depth, qualitative case study on whistleblowing regarding drug safety issues at Health Canada, which highlighted many system flaws resulting in reprisals against truth-tellers and impunity for wrongdoers.
Charles Cron
Charles Cron, CPA, CFE, is a director of inspections at the Canadian Public Accountability Board. In addition to performing inspections of audits, Charles works with the CPAB’s thought leadership group on its fraud initiative. Charles started his career at Deloitte focusing on financial statement audits of public companies. The CPAB oversees public accounting firms that audit Canadian reporting issuers. It promotes audit quality through proactive regulation, robust audit assessments, dialogue with domestic and international stakeholders and practicable insights that inform capital market participants and contribute to public confidence in the integrity of financial reporting.