Preguntas Frecuentes

2 Ethics is a confidential reporting channel against malpractices for use by the company’s groups of interest that the company designates. (Employees, suppliers, customers, shareholders, etc.)

The service consists of receiving complaints through various means subject to the customer’s choice:

• A customizable web application in a domain to the customer’s choice (Advanced Service)
• A web application in an exclusive domain (Essential Service)
• E-mail address
• PO BOX
• Phone solutions tailored to the customer’s needs (Call-Back or Hotline)
• All with the primary complaints’ management made by the professional team of i2 Ethics.

i2 Ethics ensures that communications received will be analyzed by our professionals who will take them to the strictly necessary people in the process of investigation and resolution (Ethics Committee appointed by the company or the responsible person for the affected category).

Having an external manager for such services guarantees independence and confidentiality, and forms a barrier between the company and the complainant.

It is aimed at all types of businesses, especially for:

• Companies that have CSR programs
• Companies which belong to Multinational Companies and whose headquarters forces them to have
• Compliance programs
• To all those businesses which have to protect their exposure to criminal risks in relation to the new reform of the Penal Code.
• Listed companies or in the electronic market, which must comply with the Unified Code of Good Governance of the CNMV.
• Companies who want to have a direct communication channel to the Management (As a reporting channel or as a Speak Up for suggestions, process improvement and consultations on Ethical Code).
• Companies with specific quality standards (SGE21).
• Companies that support international initiatives such as The Global Compact
• Companies who want to mitigate their risks with the most effective tool in combating fraud.

Its purpose is to collect complaints, information, documents and incidents involving an irregularity or improper conduct that is contrary to the ethical principles and ethical values for which a company is governed. These principles and values are governed by codes of corporate governance, good governance, corporate responsibility, policies or regulations from the contracting company.

Penal reform
Due to the recent reform of the Penal Code it is clear that if the company adopts and implements a program of compliance with the requirements and conditions within the law, the defense effect may extend to any possible liability of the legal person, including crimes of managers and company representatives.

Reporting channels then become an indispensable part of the Compliance Program to be taken by your company.

Our reporting channels generate information which enables:

• Manage risks and comply with planning and objectives at all company levels
• Channeling the Company’s internal culture.
• Managing the whistleblower protocol for work harassment
• Knowing about irregular issues as regards accounting, internal controls, financial reporting, and audit-related matters
• Being able to communicate with your group of interest so that you can report malpractices which are contrary to the company’s principles or values
• Having the most powerful tool to control fraud, significantly reducing the malpractices’ discovery time, as compared to those companies that do not have a reporting channel
• Reporting duties are one of the essential parts of a Compliance Plan, according to the recent reform of the Penal Code
• Comply with the recommendations issued by external bodies (CNMV, Global Compact, SGE21, etc.)

The ACFE (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners), in its “Report to the Nation 2016” makes a data collection by surveys conducted to partners, which can help us to know and to appreciate Reporting Channels.

According to this analysis, companies discover fraud according to the following chart.
These results are compared with the results obtained in the 2014 and 2012 analysis.

Confidentiality towards the complainant. i2 Ethics ensures that communications received will be analyzed by our professionals, who then will transfer them only to persons strictly necessary to perform the process of investigating and resolving them.

The company may choose between two types of treatments using protocols provided by i2 Ethics:

That the complaints received by the person or ethics committee from the company include personal data of the complainant
That complaints do not include any personal data or location from the complainant (“anonymisation of the complaint report”)
By outsourcing the reception of complaints through a specialized and independent company, the company can ensure that the complainants’ and respondent’s data are not disseminated or known by people who should not know them.

We have procedures and mechanisms for receiving, filtering, sorting and resolution of received complaints, according to the criteria required by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).

This contributes to the Channel’s efficiency, as the complainants feel protected and lose their fear of reporting.

Confidentiality towards the customer
i2 Ethics is responsible for processing the data owned by the clients’ company.

All actions taken by the Ethics i2 personnel must have the customer’s prior authorization (either through initial or protocols or through specific authorizations).

i2 Ethics team has signed non disclosure and confidentiality clauses (a model of it is available for our customers)

The web application is a self-development and it is managed by staff from i2 Ethics, which ensures that there are no third parties which may be involved in the process.