The Houston ACFE invites you to join us for our Monthly virtual training!  As usual, it will be on the last Tuesday of the month.

Speaker:  Inès Panou, CFE, MBA; Founder of Veritas International & President of the ACFE Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Chapter

Title: Global Whistleblowing Challenges: Culture, Ethics, and Compliance

Description:  In today’s global business environment, anti-fraud professionals and CFEs face unique challenges in navigating whistleblowing across diverse cultural contexts. This session will examine how perceptions of whistleblowing differ worldwide ranging from cultures that see it as disloyalty to those that actively protect and encourage it. This session will provide practical tools and techniques to balance cultural realities with universal ethical principles, strengthening their ability to uphold integrity and transparency in complex environments.

Bio: Inès Panou is the Founder of Veritas International and a globally respected expert in financial management, fraud prevention, and risk advisory, with over 20 years of experience across Corporate America, international nonprofits, and faith-based organizations. She holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Maryland, is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and a graduate of Harvard University’s Executive Program in Nonprofit Leadership.

She is serving as Senior Finance executive and risk leadership roles within one of the largest national NGOs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, stewarding over USD 125 million annually in multi-donor funding while strengthening governance and accountability systems. She is the Founder of Veritas International and President of the ACFE Chapter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was an Official conference speaker at the ACFE Global Fraud Conference in Nashville, where she addressed global audiences on fraud risk and ethical governance. Committed to continuous executive development, she is advancing her enterprise risk leadership through a Chief Risk Officer executive program.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Analyze how cultural norms and values influence perceptions and responses to whistleblowing across different regions and organizations.
• Apply universal ethical and professional principles to evaluate whistleblowing scenarios in global business contexts.
• Identify practical strategies and best practices for managing and supporting whistleblower cases in cross-border or multicultural environments.

Prerequisites: Not Applicable

Agenda:

11:50 am ZOOM OPENS

11:55 am - ACFE BOARD REMARKS AND INTRODUCTION

12:00 - 1:00 PRESENTATION BEGINS

Recommended CPE hours: 1.0 credits

Event Policies

In order to receive CPE credit for this presentation, the attendee must attend for 50 minutes and answer three poll questions randomly presented during the event.

Program Cancellation Policy

If you have registered and/or paid for an event and you need to cancel, you MUST cancel online through your account no later than 5 days prior to the event, unless otherwise indicated in specific event policies, to request a refund and/or cancel your registration. The Chapter must confirm event registrations with the venue prior to the event and any changes after this time period can become a financial cost to the Chapter. The Chapter reserves the right to make the final determination on what percentage charge/refund will be returned for cancellations made after the cutoff. The default condition is that cancellations made after cutoff will be charged at 100% and/or no refunds will be allowed. In the event the Chapter determines that partial charges or refunds will be allowed, they will be made on a case by case basis.

In the event of having to cancel one of the events,  the Chapter would immediately send an email blast to all registrants with the emails they used for registration.  The Chapter media relations officer would post on all social media platforms notifying members of the cancellation, and the Chapter webmaster would also post cancellation on the Chapter website.

In the event an attendee does not show up to the event, the registration cost will be forfeited. If payment at the door was the selected method, then the attendee will be billed for the full cost of the event. The Chapter reserves the right to bar future registrations for any attendees who routinely register and fail to pay and/or attend the event.  If you have any questions you may email events@houstonacfe.org."

For more information regarding refund, complaint and/or program cancellation policies, please visit the Terms & Conditions section of the website, or email us at events@houstonacfe.org.  

Additional Information:

Delivery Method:  Group Internet Based

NASBA Sponsor No.  125230

The Houston Area Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.  State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.  Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its web site: www.nasbaregistry.org

For concerns regarding course offerings, certifications or complaints, please contact Sasha Gartman, Training Director, Houston ACFE at events@houstonacfe.org.