Glossary
Conflict of Interest
A situation where a case handler's personal interests could improperly influence their handling of a report. EU Directive 2019/1937 Article 9(1)(c) requires the designated person to be impartial. Every internal channel needs an escalation route to remove the regular handler where conflict arises, such as a named alternate, an external ombudsperson, or the audit-committee chair.
Full definition
Article 9(1)(c) of EU Directive 2019/1937 requires that the person or department designated to handle reports is 'impartial and competent to discharge their duties'. Impartiality is impossible where the case handler is implicated in the alleged breach, related by employment or family to a subject of the report, or in a position where their own performance or compensation depends on the outcome. The practical implication is that every internal channel must have an escalation route to remove the regular case handler from a specific case where conflict arises. Common structures: an alternate handler (deputy compliance officer) is named in advance; an external ombudsperson is on retainer for senior-management cases; the audit-committee chair receives cases where the CEO is implicated. Failure to identify and manage a conflict of interest is one of the most cited deficiencies in regulatory inspections of internal channels and is the single most common reason an authority finds an internal channel to be non-compliant. Confidly's role model allows organisations to define escalation paths and to recuse specific staff from specific cases with an audited record of the recusal.
Related terms
- Case Handler The trained individual inside an organisation who triages, investigates, and resolves whistleblower reports. Under EU Directive 2019/1937 Article 9 the case handler must acknowledge receipt within 7 days, maintain confidentiality, log every action, and deliver substantive feedback within 3 months. Case handlers must be free of conflicts of interest and trained in trauma-informed interviewing.
- Designated Person The individual or department formally responsible for handling whistleblower reports inside an organisation. EU Directive 2019/1937 Article 8(5) requires the designated person to be impartial and trained. The role can be the compliance officer, DPO, an external ombudsperson, or a dedicated investigator, and may be outsourced, though legal responsibility stays with the organisation.
- Ombudsperson An impartial third party, usually external, designated to receive whistleblower reports outside the regular management chain. Article 8(5) of EU Directive 2019/1937 permits the channel-operator role to be performed by a third party, and many German DAX-40 companies designate an external lawyer (Ombudsanwalt). The advantage is independence and professional confidentiality.