In the United Arab Emirates, there is no general duty for employees to disclose wrongdoing in a company, but as the podcast participants highlight, introducing effective speak up programs and whistleblowing protections are essential to well-functioning compliance programs and to mitigate risks.

Freshfields’ global investigations lawyer Zara Merali in Dubai is joined by Patrick Meaney, Head of Enforcement at the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), Anjam Jalal, Associate Director, Enforcement at the DFSA, and Shiraz Sethi, Regional Head of Employment at Dentons to discuss the challenges, laws, best practices and future directions of whistleblowing in the UAE and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), with Patrick and Anjam providing a regulatory point of view.