This Practice Note provides guidance on the practical issues that may arise following receipt of a whistleblower report from the perspective of the corporate entity (including limited companies, partnerships and LLPs) receiving the report. For guidance from the perspective of those representing whistleblowers, see Practice Note: Representing whistleblowers in internal criminal investigations.

A corporate entity may receive reports on a broad spectrum of suspected wrongdoing, from breaches of internal company policy, to employment issues such as allegations of discrimination, to allegations of serious criminality. The latter is the focus of this note, although some principles will apply universally.