Grundfragen zur Einrichtung unternehmenseigener Hinweisgebersysteme: Der Forschungsstand zu deren Funktionen und Funktionalität

Corporate Whistleblowing-Systems are increasingly regarded as a (core-)component of compliance management systems. They are intended to improve risk management on the company side. In terms of control policy, they are meant to strengthen a kind of regulated self-regulation. This is particularly evident in latest legislative developments at EU-level, as the “Directive 2019/1937, on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law” now requires many companies to set up such systems. In the Federal Republic of Germany, however, the obligation to set up such systems under company law remains questionable until the implementation of the directive under national law. The answer depends on whether internal whistleblowing systems actually fulfil the functions attributed to them – an answer which only can given by using the accessible empirical evidence. These empirical aspects will still be relevant once the implementing law has been passed because the design of internal whistleblowing system should be the most efficient. Therefore this article provides the first extensive review of the relevant and available empirical data.