Swiss whistleblowing culture still in infancy

The protective veil of Swiss banking secrecy was famously dealt a fatal blow by the testimony of a handful of whistleblowers in recent years. But it appears that the culture of whistleblowing on corrupt or unethical practices has barely permeated beyond larger companies. The first forensic study of Swiss whistleblowing, presented in Zurich on Tuesday, found that only 11% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have installed whistleblowing systems to date. This is especially telling as SMEs (firms with under 250 employees) make up 99.8% of all companies in Switzerland.  Furthermore, SME whistleblowing systems yield on average just one report of suspicious activity every three years, according to the study by the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (HTW). The findings show a clear need to communicate the beneficial effects of whistleblowing, says Integrity Line, a company that advises the corporate world on how to report misbehaviour. HTW surveyed 364 ...