Whistleblowers may be protected under Saudi anti-graft drive

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said its rules are designed to encourage a culture in which individuals working in the financial services industry feel comfortable raising concerns. These rules offer confidentiality to those speaking up. (Reuters)

LONDON: Saudi Arabia is looking at measures to protect whistleblowers who report financial crime as part of a widening anti-corruption drive.
The Kingdom’s Shoura Council is reportedly considering ways to shield whistleblowers from reprisals if they report financial misdemeanors to the authorities.
Although the Council does not have legislative powers, it can propose laws. In a tweet on Monday, the Council said it had agreed on the “appropriateness of the draft proposal” for whistleblower-protection” in relation to financial and administrative corruption, Reuters reported.
In an interview with Arab News, Jane Kinninmont, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, London, said: “The success of anti-corruption measures will (among other things) depend on introducing new systems and institutions to prevent it.
“Protecting whistleblowers seems like a logical follow-up to help to ensure that anti-corruption measures start to become embedded,” she said.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched an inquiry into graft that has resulted in the detention of a dozens of princes, senior officials and businessmen.
In a Nov. 9 statement, Saudi attorney general Sheikh Saud Al-Mojeb said that the authorities had questioned 208 people and estimated that at least $100 billion had been stolen through corrupt practices.
“The Government of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is working within a clear legal and institutional framework to maintain transparency and integrity in the market,” said Al-Mojeb.
Although details are sketchy about what measures the Shoura Council is proposing with regard to whistleblowers, UK rules require banks to put in place mechanisms to allow their employees to raise concerns internally, as well as require them to appoint a senior person to take responsibility for the effectiveness of these arrangements.
Leading UK financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said on its website that whistleblowers play an important role in exposing poor practice and have contributed vital intelligence leading to action against both firms and individuals.
Said the FCA: “It is in the interests of the industry and regulators alike that wrongdoing is identified and addressed promptly. For individuals to have the confidence to come forward, it is vital that firms have in place adequate policies on dealing with whistleblowers and that a senior manager takes responsibility for overseeing these policies.” The FCA said its rules are designed to encourage a culture in which individuals working in the financial services industry feel comfortable raising concerns. These rules encourage people to voice concern by offering confidentiality to those speaking up.
Regulations introduced by the FCA in 2015 recommended that firms appoint a senior manager as their whistleblowers’ champion; put in place internal whistleblowing arrangements able to handle all types of disclosure from all types of person; and put text in settlement agreements explaining that workers have a legal right to blow the whistle.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 outlaws retaliation against whistleblowers — including dismissal, demotion, suspension, threats or harassment. In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act took those measures one step further by requiring banks to provide evidence that sanctions against individuals were not connected to whistleblowing.