Whistleblower’s vital role to stem corruption in the workplace

Is there enough protection within and outside the company structure?

C4 Center (Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism) and together with the Promise of Integrity (POI) alliance, organised a half-day virtual event titled above.

Date: 12 Aug 2021, Thursday

Time: 8.30am – 1.00pm

About the event

Weaknesses in addressing corporate crimes including fraud and corruption in the private sector would undermine governance, leading to negative effects which include distortion of market mechanisms like fair competition, diminution of domestic and foreign investments as well as loss of future business opportunities for stakeholders.

Parliament had in April 2018 passed a bill to amend the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 with the insertion of Section 17A. The amendments came into force in June 2020.

This Section allows for the prosecution of commercial organisations when an associated person engages in corruption in order to obtain or retain business or seek an advantage for the organisation. 

There is a need to bring stakeholders to the table and discuss the provisions of S.17A particularly focusing on the various whistleblower mechanisms and structures that are in place in the various companies and to learn from each other’s experiences.

In a broader context, there is also a need to understand the challenges some companies might be facing to comply with the requirements of S.17A.

This seminar was held to gather further understanding from the business community’s perspectives on what could be done to improve the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (WPA) so that it could benefit the business community and their employees in reporting corruption.

C4 Center presented our initial research on this topic for discussion among the panel speakers.

All inputs and findings would be presented to the government which is currently working on amendments to the WPA.

This event featured the following panel of both international and local speakers :-

• Jye Mei Wong – Boston Scientific Asia Pacific Region, Senior Manager, Legal & Compliance
• John Chung – Intel (Asia) Regional Compliance Counselor
• Tom Levine – Government Accountability Project, Legal Director
• Samantha Feinstein – Government Accountability Project, Staff Attorney and Director, International Programme
• Joachim Xavier – Nadzarin Kuok Puthucheary & Tan, Advocates & Solicitors, Partner
• Dr KM Loi – Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) Board Member

Here is a summary of the event highlighted in key quotes spoken by our esteemed guests during the seminar:

Seminar participants comprised:

• Corporate Governance and Integrity executives
• Heads of department, supervisors and business owners
• Working professionals
• Directors and Chairman of companies

Collaborator:
Find out more about the Promise of Integrity Alliance