UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Ben Morgan, Ali Sallaway, Matthew Bruce and Emily Knight, Freshfields
• investigating and responding to concerns promptly and fairly; • conducting victimisation risk assessments and protecting whistle-blowers; • providing feedback and learning from con- cerns raised; and Public relations teams should work closely with legal counsel to ensure that external communi- cations are managed with care and are consist- ent and accurate. Given the fast-paced nature of media coverage, organisations should install processes prior to a crisis to facilitate prompt communications that are nonetheless carefully considered. • keeping systems under review. 6.3 External Communication Organisations may need to notify those affected by an incident and provide ways for individu- als to learn whether they may be affected (eg, helplines, complaints procedures and guidance websites). Caution should be taken with com- munications to affected consumers to avoid unnecessary distress, which can subsequently be criticised by regulators. Adequate recom- pense to individuals who are harmed by a crisis ought to be considered where an organisation identifies the need for remediation; typically, the reasonableness of such payments can be agreed with regulators as part of investigations and/or enforcement action. This can provide helpful evidence of co-operation to reach an amicable resolution to regulatory intervention. 6.4 Investor Relations During a crisis, companies should communicate clearly to investors in compliance with relevant statutory and regulatory requirements, and also maintaining confidence and trust with stakehold- ers. Organisations should nonetheless maintain caution with external communications to miti-
gate risks of damaging messages, especially in relation to follow-on investigations, enforcement action and/or litigation. 6.5 Customer Relations See 5.10 Mandatory Report and 6.3 External Communication . As part of preparing for a crisis, companies should be mindful that an incident may result in increased complaints and data requests from customers. To manage this, companies should have clear plans to implement appropriate vehi- cles for affected individuals to request informa- tion (such as helplines, websites and the use of social media). These measures can be devel- oped by consulting with specialist public rela- tions and legal teams, and in consultation with regulators where necessary. During and following a crisis, companies may face difficulties rebuilding trust with customers, especially when a crisis incident goes against public commitments and/or the values of the company. External communications to custom- ers should align with actions taken to remedy the incident with regulators and internal com- munications. Companies should use established communication channels and, where possible, be transparent on the incident, its impact and the remedial steps that will be taken. 6.6 Communication to Employees See 6.2 Internal Communication . 6.7 Communication With Affected Parties See 6.5 Customer Relations .
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