Compliance message

Definition of whistleblower: A whistleblower is a person who discloses information that is important to the public in a secret or protected context or who uncovers wrongdoing. Whistleblower disclosures of wrongdoing or crimes include corruption, insider trading, human rights violations, misuse of data, or general threats that the whistleblower has learned about at work or in other contexts.

Note: According to Section 16 (1) HinSchG, there is explicitly no obligation to set up the internal reporting channels in such a way that they allow anonymous reports to be submitted. It merely specifies that reports received anonymously should also be processed.
should be processed
. Nevertheless, we offer a possibility to submit a report anonymously. However, we would also like to point out that without providing contact information, it will be much more difficult to follow up on the report. In accordance with the confidentiality requirement under § 8 HinSchG , non-anonymous reports are also particularly protected.

Whistleblowers are free to choose whether to submit a report to their company's internal reporting office or to use the external reporting office. However, the Federal Office of Justice (BfJ) asks that internal reporting channels be preferred.