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Ethics and compliance teams in Europe are navigating a demanding moment. Regulatory expectations are becoming more complex, and AI governance has risen to a board-level priority. Meanwhile, culture, workforce reporting, and speak-up systems are facing greater scrutiny, all while many teams are being asked to do more with fewer resources.
That combination creates a clear need for practical, evidence-based guidance. It also explains why Ethisphere’s recent presence at three European ethics and compliance events matters.
Across SpeakUp Next 2026 in Amsterdam, a Business Ethics Leadership Alliance Roundtable hosted by JLL in London, and the Consero Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer Forum at Sopwell House in St. Albans, Ethisphere subject matter experts joined senior leaders to discuss what effective ethics and compliance programs need now. The settings were different, but the themes were consistent: trust is still the foundation of ethical culture, data is essential for decision-making, and ethics and compliance leaders need credible ways to focus their limited resources where they will have the greatest impact.
Speak-up culture still depends on trust
At SpeakUp Next 2026 in Amsterdam, Emily Miner, Director of Data & Services at Ethisphere, moderated a panel on “Encouraging People to Speak Up in the Modern Workplace.” The panel brought together compliance leaders from Wolters Kluwer, NXP, and Fugro to examine what prevents employees from raising concerns and what organizations can do to change that.
The answer starts with trust.
“The top three reasons cited for why people don’t speak up are that they fear a lack of confidentiality, they fear retaliation, or they didn’t think anything would happen, highlighting a lack of trust,” Miner said.
That insight should matter to every ethics and compliance leader. A speak-up program cannot rely only on process design, reporting channels, or policy language. Those elements matter, but they do not persuade employees to raise concerns if people doubt that the organization will protect them, listen to them, and act responsibly on what they share.
The panel explored what it takes to build that confidence over time. Employees need to see that reports are handled confidentially. They need to understand, where appropriate, that action was taken. They need managers and leaders whose behavior reinforces the organization’s stated values. Trust grows through repeated proof, and it can be damaged quickly when one report is mishandled.
For European organizations managing increasingly complex workforce, culture, and reporting expectations, this is not a soft issue. Speak-up culture is a source of risk intelligence. It helps organizations identify misconduct, cultural pressure points, and control weaknesses before they become larger problems. Ethisphere’s role in the conversation was to bring data and cross-industry perspective to a challenge that every program recognizes but few can solve through policy alone.
Peer exchange remains one of the most valuable tools in ethics and compliance
The second event, a BELA Roundtable hosted by JLL in London, reflected another essential part of Ethisphere’s work: convening ethics and compliance leaders for candid, practical discussion.
The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance is built around exactly that kind of exchange. At the London roundtable, Ethisphere’s Eric Jorgenson shared key data, Brian Oderkirk welcomed attendees, and the discussion benefited from the perspectives of Claire Handley, Richard Abbey of EY, and other leaders in the room.
Jorgenson described the session as one of the strongest roundtables he had attended in recent memory. The group was intentionally smaller, but the level of engagement was high. The event filled quickly, the presentations generated strong discussion, and attendees left asking for more opportunities to continue the conversation.
That response is important, because ethics and compliance leaders want credible data, honest peer discussion, and practical ideas they can take back to their organizations. Smaller forums create the conditions for more useful conversations because participants can move beyond broad statements and talk frankly about what is working, what is difficult, and where they need better answers.
For Ethisphere, those rooms are not only a way to share expertise. They are also a way to stay close to the real pressures shaping the profession. That is especially valuable as Ethisphere continues to support a growing European ethics and compliance community.
European compliance leaders are facing a wider risk agenda
At the Consero’s Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer Forum at Sopwell House in St. Albans, Jorgenson and Oderkirk heard a wide range of questions from leaders who were either already familiar with Ethisphere or just beginning to learn how its data, advisory work, assessments, and BELA resources could support their programs.
A recurring theme was resource pressure. Leaders are expected to manage expanding risk areas, respond to changing regulations, and strengthen culture without always receiving commensurate budget or headcount. That makes prioritization harder and makes external data more valuable. Benchmarking, culture insights, program assessments, and peer resources can help teams focus their efforts and make stronger internal cases for investment.
Oderkirk’s summary of the forum’s key discussion points shows how broad the current ethics and compliance agenda has become.
AI governance was prominent, driven by the EU AI Act and by governance expectations such as Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code. Compliance teams are being asked to help organizations bring structure, accountability, and oversight to AI use, even as technology teams move quickly to develop or deploy new tools.
Third-party risk management also remained top of mind, as did the need for credible benchmark data. Leaders want to understand how their programs compare with peers and where they may need to strengthen controls, culture, training, or reporting.
Manager capability surfaced as another central issue. Managers remain one of the most important points of contact between employees and the ethics and compliance program. They are often the first to hear concerns, observe pressure, interpret policy questions, and influence whether employees believe the organization’s values are real. Training managers to have meaningful ethical conversations is still one of the most practical ways to strengthen culture.
New risks are also arriving quickly. Prediction markets, for example, have moved from a niche topic to a real compliance concern as enforcement activity has highlighted how confidential corporate information could be misused in emerging trading environments. The lesson for ethics and compliance leaders is broader than any single platform: new markets, new technologies, and new data uses can create misconduct risks before organizations have fully named them.
Forum participants also discussed uncertainty around U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement and the practical effect of CSRD and ESRS workforce and social disclosures. As sustainability reporting expectations evolve, companies increasingly need defensible data about employee experience, culture, inclusion, psychological safety, and workplace impacts. Employee perception data is not simply a culture tool in that context. It can become part of how companies substantiate what they report.
The bigger signal for Europe
Taken together, these three events point to a larger shift in the European ethics and compliance conversation.
Leaders are asking how to measure culture, improve it, and defend it with data. They are asking how to govern AI before fragmented use creates bigger exposure. They are asking how to equip managers to turn organizational values into everyday behavior.
That is where Ethisphere’s work is especially relevant. More than inspiration, ethics and compliance teams need data that helps them understand where they stand, advisory insight that helps them make decisions, and peer communities that give them access to practical thinking from other leaders facing similar challenges.
Ethisphere’s presence in Amsterdam and London reflects a deliberate commitment to that work in Europe, where the organization is bringing its evidence-based approach, expert guidance, and convening power to a European ethics and compliance community that is engaged, ambitious, and under real pressure.
Continue the conversation with Ethisphere
For ethics and compliance leaders working through these same questions, Ethisphere offers several ways to move from insight to action.
Through the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, leaders gain access to a global peer community, practical resources, and candid exchanges with organizations facing similar challenges. Ethisphere’s Program Assessments help teams evaluate the maturity and effectiveness of their ethics and compliance programs against established practices and peer benchmarks. Ethisphere’s Culture Assessments give organizations a clearer view of employee perceptions, speak-up confidence, manager behavior, and the cultural conditions that shape ethical decision-making.
Together, these resources help ethics and compliance teams focus their efforts, strengthen their internal case for investment, and build programs that are ready for the risks and expectations ahead.
To learn more about BELA membership, Program Assessments, or Culture Assessments, connect with Ethisphere.
Author Bio
Emily Miner | Director, Data & Services, Ethisphere
Emily is a Director at Ethisphere in the Data & Services team. Her work includes evaluating client’s ethics and compliance programs, benchmarking against peer practices, providing guidance and implementation support to early-stage programs, and developing compliance and ESG risk assessments.
Eric Jorgenson, M.P.A | Director, Data & Services, Ethisphere
Eric is a Director on the Data & Services team at Ethisphere and specializes in the Ethics & Compliance program management, specifically the evaluation and implementation of corporate compliance and ethics solutions. His work includes evaluations of client programs, assessment of programmatic components, and operational thought leadership for clients.
Brian Oderkirk | Sales Executive, Ethisphere, Guest Contributor
Brian is a strategic advisor helping global organizations strengthen compliance, governance, and ethical culture through SaaS, AI, and data-driven solutions. His expertise includes program benchmarking, ethical culture measurement, independent compliance assessments, training effectiveness, and disclosure management. By applying cultural insights, benchmarking data, and peer best practices, Brian helps organizations strengthen speak-up cultures, enhance integrity, and achieve sustainable business outcomes.
