WHISTLEBLOWING AS A MECHANISM OF FRAUD RISK MANAGEMENT IN ECONOMIC PRACTICE

Abstract

The phenomenon of fraud and abuse remains relevant, as evidenced not only by studies published in this area, but also by the measures taken by economic operators to reduce it. Whistleblowing is an increasingly common tool for detecting fraudulent activities. It involves informing the organization’s management or external entities of any ethically, fraudulently or corruptly motivated irregularities. The level of interest in whistleblowing among Polish market entities is relatively low, mainly due to the lack of appropriate organizational culture, which is influenced by both internal and external factors within which the company operates. An important barrier in the implementation of whistleblowing in economic structures are both the ethical and sociological aspects and the low level of trust of potential whistleblowers towards their personal security for disclosing information about the signs of a prohibited act. Therefore, this tool is not very popular due to the lack of safeguards under national law, as well as internal regulations of entities using it. The aim of the publication is to verify the extent to which the whistleblowing tool is used to counteract the risk of abuse by economic entities listed on the Polish Stock Exchange, covered by the WIG 30 Index.