UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Ben Morgan, Ali Sallaway, Matthew Bruce and Emily Knight, Freshfields
through amicable resolutions (see also 5.3 Co- Operating With Enforcement Authorities ). 5.8 Insurance Companies should ensure that insurance policies are regularly reviewed to identify potential areas of further cover and so that relevant members of the crisis management team can notify insur- ers of any incidents that occur in line with terms of agreements. Insurance law is nuanced and will often require the input of specialist advisers on the issue to ensure adequate coverage and appropriate notification/claims where necessary. 5.9 Reputation Management Companies may measure an incident’s impact on reputation based on several factors, including market value, media reports (positive or nega- tive), the consequences on profits and/or the number of clients/customers, and/or customer and/or employee surveys. 5.10 Mandatory Report See 2.5 Transparency Requirements . 6. Communication 6.1 Co-Ordination of Communications Ideally, companies should have a crisis com- munications team to develop a communication strategy plan that can be implemented in a cri- sis. The team can consist of specialist internal and external public relations advisers to identify risks faced with communications (such as repu- tational, legal or other), as well as legal counsel. When a crisis does develop, key stakeholders such as shareholders, regulators and public authorities may need to be consulted at an ear- ly stage to mitigate any adverse consequences, such as enforcement action and potential liti-
gation. Existing plans should be implemented and adapted where necessary to reflect the par- ticular incident, with a dedicated spokesperson and a clearing process in place for internal and external communications. Senior members of organisations should lead communications to provide consistent messaging and exemplify the company’s approach to crisis management. Fail- ure to communicate in a timely, adequate and co-ordinated manner may result in further repu- tational damage, misinformation and potential criminal investigations and litigation. 6.2 Internal Communication Companies should address concerns from internal stakeholders such as employees, whilst avoiding the disclosure of potentially confidential or privileged information. Internal communica- tions should be consistent with external mes- saging, whilst being tailored to the relevant audi- ence. It should be noted that there are additional issues applicable to whistle-blower reports, which may need to be addressed with special- ist legal counsel. Organisations should ensure there are robust mechanisms in place to support and protect whistle-blowers and, in turn, should encourage the reporting of suspected areas of crisis risk. To implement whistle-blowing proce- dures that are effective in facilitating the identi- fication of crisis risks, the following measures should be considered: • having a responsible individual at board level for overseeing whistle-blowing procedures; • adopting a culture where employees feel comfortable to speak up about concerns; • signposting internal and external whistle- blowing arrangements; • training staff on the portals for whistle-blow- ing and protection offered to whistle-blowers;
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