ITALY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Enrico Maria Mancuso, Federico Bracalente, Marco Accorroni and Marco Mariotti, Herbert Smith Freehills Studio Legale
appointed to follow up on the reports. In detail, they shall maintain communications with the whistle-blower and, if necessary, request the latter to provide further information; diligently follow up on the reports; and provide feedback to the whistle-blower as to the results of their investigation. The investigation can point out the need to adopt organisational and compliance measures and/or to issue disciplinary sanctions. Decree 24/2023 provides whistle-blowers with a wide range of guarantees and protections, including (i) duty of confidentiality in relation to their identity; (ii) prohibition of any form of retalia - tion; and (iii) exclusion of any form of disciplinary, civil, administrative or criminal liability attribut - able to them (except in case of illicit acquisition of information and documentation). In specific cases, whistle-blowers can make reports via an external channel (i) if the entity failed to comply with the requirements of the internal channel; (ii) if a report made via the inter - nal channel did not (or would likely not) receive appropriate follow-ups or would imply some form of retaliation; (iii) if the breach amounts to an imminent or evident threat to the public inter - est; and (iv) if the whistle-blower suffered a form of retaliation. While external reporting is specifically provided for in the Directive, Italy has selected ANAC as the entity in charge of its monitoring. ANAC con - ducts an independent investigation and follows up on such reports or forwards them to the com - petent administrative and judicial authorities. ANAC is also tasked with applying administra - tive pecuniary sanctions in case of non-compli - ance with certain requirements under Decree 24/2023 (including in case of retaliation against the whistle-blower).
Decree 24/2023 thus calls for a co-ordinat - ed effort between private entities and public enforcement authorities to prevent misconduct. Public and private entities are responsible for managing first-level reporting channels, while ANAC acts as a second-level controller to detect and follow up on any shortcomings in these channels, in line with its established role and authority within Italy’s anti-corruption system. The protection regime under Decree 24/2023 has a particular impact on the fight against cor - ruption. Decree 24/2023 provides all potential whistle- blowers with clear and relatively easy-to-use tools to report misconduct that would otherwise be difficult to detect. As most corrupt practices essentially consist of agreements between a public official and one or more private individu - als not immediately or overtly affecting private third parties, their detection is especially com - plex unless those who agreed or witnessed the agreement speak up and distance themselves from it and the benefits connected thereto. This regime provides a safe avenue to do that. Moreover, as Decree 24/2023 applies to both public and private entities, public entities are also tasked with facilitating the detection of mis - conduct, thereby extending the potential posi - tive impact of this regime to both sides of the AI will increasingly play a crucial role in advanc - ing anti-corruption efforts. By leveraging AI, both public enforcement authorities and corporations can detect, predict and mitigate corruption risks on a much larger scale and with greater efficien - cy, accelerating the shift from reactive to proac - tive preventive measures. corrupt agreement. Artificial Intelligence
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