KARACHI, April 24: Anti-corruption experts at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) — the Paris-based world business organization — have called on companies to encourage whistle-blowing by creating internal policies under which employees can report concerns without fear of retribution.

A press release received here on Thursday, the ICC said that in a new book, titled ‘Fighting Corruption’, contributor and ICC Anti-Corruption Commission member Michael Davies argued that it was in the best interest of companies to encourage and accommodate whistle-blowers. The book was launched on Thursday in Paris at an anti-corruption conference at the ICC headquarters attended by over 100 lawyers, business executives and corporate mangers.

“The public perception is that, if whistle-blower concerns had been heeded, some of the recent corporate disasters could have been avoided, and that in order to prevent future misconduct, whistle-blowers should be encouraged to come forward,” Mr Davies writes.

The book has been published with an audience of corporate managers in mind. Other emerging anti-corruption issues, covered in the new book, include money laundering, terrorist finance and reform of accounting and auditing standards, the ICC press release said.