 Today, we are going to go on to a very interesting journey and this journey is now going to transcend the standards that we have been talking about, the different frameworks that we have been talking about, different schools of thought and the different contextualization and texturization of corporate governance. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to talk about a very interesting topic and that topic is called whistle blowing. Now, whistle blowing is not blowing the whistle, it is not about C. T. Bajana, it is about being the voice in your organization, it is about raising the voice in your organization. If you do recall, in our earlier sessions, we talked about voicelessness and in that voicelessness, we talked about two different types of voicelessness, one having a voice and not being heard and second being unable to even express your genuine concerns and your genuine observations and the corruption or the inconsistencies which are taking place in any institution, in any society, in any community or in any nation. So again, ladies and gentlemen, whistle blowing is the very opposite of voicelessness, it gives you a voice, it enables you to make noise, it enables you to be heard and it enables you to get justice and to ensure that your institution, your community, your society, your nation, humanity tends to flourish in the positive values of honesty, integrity, truth and accountability. So this is very, very important, now when we talk about whistle blowing, we can say that whistle blowing has been a part of humanity since time immemorial, but it was always structured, it was always flooded, it was always desegmented, it was always unframed, it was always indefinite. Now all of these things were there, but there was no mechanism, there was no system, there was no law, there was no framework for people to express themselves and what would happen is that up till the 20th century what we see is that the major stakeholder or the major shareholder or the top management would always tend to subjugate their employees and based upon that they would through force, through coercion, through inappropriate practices they would tend to snub those people who would raise concern about irregularities, corruption and also inappropriate practices within a particular institution or organization. Now whistle blowing even though like I mentioned to you has been there for many millennia, however in its proper form what we can see is that we see it come into the arena of the corporate world to the 1989 whistleblower protection act of the US Congress. Now what we see is that for the first time the whistleblowers were acknowledged and they were given protection from any retribution or retaliation and they were basically protected from those very powerful interests who would in other cases make their lives miserable. So just like the very famous witness protection program of the US which later on was adopted by many countries around the world the whistleblowers were also given this protection that if you blow the whistle then you would not have to bear the brunt of retribution or of retaliation or of revenge and that basically was a sea change and that sea change enabled many employees across the globe to raise their voice and that also led to the closure of some very large companies such as Enron such as WorldCom all of these companies were basically toppled because their irregularities were highlighted by their employees. So that is what is extremely important. Now why whistleblowing? Now when we look at whistleblowing mechanisms they save corporations from possible failures whistleblowing protects the sustainability of the organization which is key for all of the stakeholders. So that was what I was basically talking about whistleblowing ensures early detection of the corrupt practices in the company whistleblowing enhances the confidence in the stakeholders. So ladies and gentlemen what we see is that by whistleblowing rather than having a big disaster later on you can preempt a disaster. You can inform the authorities that this is happening within the organization and then they can be taken accounted for through the let's say the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan and also in Pakistan through NAB the National Accountability Bureau there is also whistleblowing clause over there and again also by the Federal Investigation Agency they can also play their own role the anti-corruption establishment can play their own role the PAC can play their own role. So there are different regulatory and accountability organizations who can play their own role once the whistle is blowing even in a country like Pakistan. So that basically would ensure that rather than the organization being sucked dry through the termites eating it hollow that can be saved and the organization would face you can say a brief period of lull a brief period of difficulties but would be able to rise again. Now this in turn tends to raise the confidence of stakeholders and shareholders and can also increase the credibility and goodwill of the organization. What we see is that early warning over unethical practices prevailing in the company which can cause failure for the company. So again we are looking at different things which are taking place and they should be informed well in time before the consequences are so great that the company basically collapses due to its benefit and utmost importance many countries like the UK and US have made policies to enhance whistleblowing mechanism. So just like I was mentioning the 1989 act and then later on different laws and acts were basically promulgated by European countries and then even by many Asian countries and even by countries developing countries like Pakistan. The US and UK have sound economic dominance in the world due to cooperation operating in the countries through active laws related to whistleblowing are critical. So again this boosts shareholder and stakeholder confidence and then tends to reinforce augment and strengthen the economy of any country. The past disclosures of corruption in corporate entities came into public attention only through whistleblowing mechanisms and we have seen one very big example of Sharon Watkins who was one of the few people with an andron who voiced the concern five months before it collapsed. So if people had heard Sharon Watkins on time then maybe we would not have seen this 56 billion dollar debacle which basically nearly wiped out people from the stock market because it had so many repercussions but again at least there was this whistleblowing attempt. Now we also see another very important example of Cynthia Cooper who was the internal auditor and her subordinates investigated the unusual accounting entries in the world comms wireless division in early 2002 and raised the whistle and therefore were able to ensure that it did not end up in a major multi-multibillion loss. So that again is the importance. Now the media also has taken advantage of whistleblowing because through whistleblowing the media basically can get very confidential reports and also can have a look into different corporations and therefore they can play their role as information disseminator in a much better way. And again it is very unfortunate that corruption is a universal phenomena and it is affecting all the countries and it is becoming very difficult to combat and investigate and then counter corruption as a whole because of the lure and of the dazzle of corruption benefits but again it is extremely important that just like I mentioned earlier the global integrity education program and the education for justice program of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crimes is now spreading across the world and their other initiative of having anti-corruption education symposiums on a global level and then trying to bring countries into the ambit and going up to the students not only the university students but the school students so that those values are inculcated within them and they are given the confidence to speak up that is extremely important and all of this is taking place. So on one side we see corruption gaining a lot of impetus but on the other side anti-corruption also are coming out with long-term sustainable policies and frameworks and mechanisms to ensure that this menace of corruption can be tackled in a much better way. The United Nations being the biggest organization just like I was mentioning also is very much against corruption and has many initiatives whereby whistleblowing mechanism is being promoted throughout the world and that is very very important. Now if you look at article 33 of the UN Convention Against Corruption then it basically talks about whistleblowing and I'll just read it for all of you. Each state party shall consider incorporating its domestic legal system, appropriate measures to provide protection against any unjustified treatment for any person who reports in good faith and on reasonable grounds to the competent authorities any facts concerning offenses established in accordance with this convention which is convention number 33. So ladies and gentlemen what we see is is that there is this great trend which is emerging of whistleblowing because people are taking responsibility secondly they are being protected through different laws frameworks and mechanisms. Fourthly what we see is that because of the whistle that they are blowing there is greater accountability and regulatory compliance being enforced by different institutions to ensure that organizations do not collapse because of corruption and then there is also this cross accountability taking place whereby the corrupt elements at least have this fear that if they are doing something then maybe someone might be blowing the whistle and would take them down. So all of these factors are basically ensuring a more integrity oriented, more accountable, more anti-corruption focused culture and frameworks and environment. And like I mentioned the different initiatives which are now taking place on a global level even in a country like Pakistan are those UNODC initiatives which are now going up to the school level in which the academia, the corporate sector, the social sector and the public sector are all networked together to work out more comprehensive, sustainable ways so that people do not adopt corrupt practices. Thank you so much.