Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (WAM)
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre of the UAE’s capital, announced on Thursday the publication of a Consultation Paper on a proposed whistleblowing framework. This reinforces the continuous emphasis on transparency, accountability, and market integrity from ADGM and its Regulatory Authorities.
Complimenting ADGM’s existing regulatory frameworks, the framework builds on the publication of ADGM’s Guiding Principles on Whistleblowing in December 2022.
The measures in the paper aim to support the endeavours of ADGM market participants to operate in line with the highest global standards of business practice.
The international financial centre builds and maintains frameworks that support a culture of speaking up with confidence, which is part of ADGM’s progressive business environment that nurtures transparency and investor confidence.
Proposals encompass a dedicated regulatory framework that recognises and protects good faith reporting of ‘protected disclosures’ and those that make them.
It also offers explicit availability of internal and external channels for reporting reasonably held suspicion of breaches of ADGM legislation or financial crime.
It also put in place good governance requirements to support whistleblowing for all entities and non-retaliation protections integrated into existing employment regulations to guard employees against retaliation for speaking up.
Moreover, the framework requires entities operating within ADGM to implement arrangements that are proportionate to the scale and complexity of their operations to support effective whistleblowing.
Notably, additional requirements apply to companies over a certain size or that carry additional financial crime risks.
