Rules of procedure for information according to Sections 12 et seq. German Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) and for complaints under Section 8 of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG)
Dear Whistleblower,
The Raiffeisen Waren Group takes its responsibility for the lawful and compliant behaviour (compliance) of its employees - from student assistants to management - very seriously. By way of their personal integrity and behaviour, all employees contribute to the good reputation, the trust of our business partners and customers, the well-being of all employees and the sustainable economic success of the Raiffeisen Waren Group.
Early detection and processing of violations to rectify them without delay and adapt the existing compliance management system if necessary are key to compliance functioning as envisaged. This requires the special attention of all employees and their willingness to report suspicious behaviour.
In accordance with the provisions of the German Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG)*, the Raiffeisen Waren Group, therefore, provides a modern whistleblower/complaints procedure that opens up confidential and technically secure communication channels for (anonymous) reports and ensures transparent, swift and objective clarification. Therefore, we encourage employees of the Raiffeisen Waren Group to use the whistleblower/complaints procedure to report possible grievances or irregularities in the company in accordance with these rules of procedure.
Naturally, the whistleblower/complaints procedure is also available to customers, business partners, third party providers and other persons who intend to report practices, procedures or circumstances that raise concerns about behaviour that is in compliance with the law or regulations.
Apart from this, the whistleblower/complaints procedure is also aimed at clarifying indications of human rights and environmental breaches of duty or risks that have arisen as a result of the business activities of the Raiffeisen Waren Group in its own business area or in the business area of a direct or indirect supplier. Therefore, the whistleblower/complaints procedure also functions as a complaints procedure within the meaning of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG)** for whistleblowers along the supply chain.
Putting the whistleblower complaints procedure in place is linked to the expectation that it shall be used responsibly. It is not, in particular, intended as a personal “Grievance box.”
Based on the above, we, therefore, attach great importance to explaining the procedure for using our whistleblower/complaints procedure in detail below.
NOTICE: This whistleblower/complaints procedure applies to the companies of Raiffeisen Waren-Gruppe listed here
I. Available reporting channels
You can submit information and complaints to our internal reporting centre via various reporting channels (by telephone, post and online). Following an express request, our internal reporting office will also be happy to assist you in person.
1. Reporting in person:
To arrange a personal appointment, please first contact our internal reporting office via one of the following reporting channels.
2. Reporting by telephone
To report information/complaints by telephone or if you have any questions about the whistleblower/complaints procedure, please contact our internal reporting office on +49 (0) 561 7122-610 from Monday to Friday between 08:00 am and 4:00 pm.
If your report/complaint applies to one of our lawyers, you can also contact our data protection coordinator on +49 (0) 561 7122 315.
3. Reporting by post:
The address for reporting by post is:
Raiffeisen Waren GmbH
Legal Department
Ständeplatz 1-3
D-34117 Kassel
If you do not wish our secretarial staff to take note of your report, you can address your report/complaint directly to our internal reporting office with the addition “Confidential/only to be opened by the internal reporting office.” You can use our whistleblower/complaint form to simplify this process. This is available from the individual branches.
Insofar as you have submitted your report, stating your contact details, you will receive confirmation of receipt within one week of receipt of your report.
4. Online reporting:
a. Technical introduction:
We use the “Trusty” platform from Trusty AG for our online reporting system. This will guide you through the whistleblowing/complaints process in just a few steps without prior registration. The following clicks/information are required in this regard:
Call up our complaints system at rw.trusty.report and click on “Create report.”
Read the information about security and confidentiality, the provisions on data processing and the anonymity obligations and accept the conditions by clicking on the checkbox provided. Then click on “Continue.” You can find the above information by clicking on the word “Information” above the checkbox and the word “Data protection” at the bottom of the page.
In the drop-down list, select the country in which the offence occurred. Then click on “Continue.”
Complete the fields on the place and time of the offence, the persons involved in the offence and the description of the offence to the best of your knowledge and belief. If available and desired, you can send us further relevant information using the “Attach documents” button. Then click on “Continue.”
Select whether you wish to submit your report anonymously or by providing your personal details. Then click on “Continue” to enter your personal data or, in the event of an anonymous report, click on “Submit.”
b. Procedure following receipt of the report
Access data:
After sending your report, you will first receive your access data.
Please keep these carefully and protected from access by unauthorised third parties. You can then log in at any time via the “Your inbox” button at rw.trusty.report to read messages from us and reply to them or submit additional information.
Confirmation of receipt:
Insofar as you have not submitted the report anonymously, but by stating your contact details including your e-mail address and have asked to be notified of new inboxes by e-mail by ticking the checkbox, you will also receive an automated confirmation of receipt from the platform operator once the notice has been sent.
In addition to this automated confirmation of receipt, you will receive a separate confirmation of receipt from our internal reporting centre within one week of receipt of your report.
II. Procedure following receipt of the report:
1. Confirmation of receipt and documentation
As stated above, you will receive confirmation of receipt of your report within seven days at the latest, unless this is impossible due to a lack of available contact options.
All incoming reports are documented in a permanently retrievable manner in compliance with the confidentiality requirement. The documentation of the report is generally deleted three years following completion of the procedure, but may be kept for longer if this is legally required and proportionate.
If you request a personal meeting with the internal reporting office or in the case of a telephone report, the conversation will be documented - subject to your consent - either by way of an audio recording (e.g. using a dictation machine) or by taking down the wording as accurately as possible in the form of a detailed verbatim report. You will then be given the note or transcript with a request for confirmation by signature for review and for any comments and corrections. If an audio recording was used to prepare the minutes, it will then be deleted. If you do not agree to the creation of an audio recording or a verbatim report, the report will be documented by our internal reporting centre by means of a content log.
2. Initial review and investigation of the facts:
In the one to four weeks following receipt of the report/complaint, our internal reporting office will carry out an initial review and, if necessary, determine the facts of the case. In this context, the validity of your report is examined and a review is conducted as to whether or not the reported risk/breach falls within the scope of our whistleblower/complaints procedure. We will also check whether or not there are sufficient concrete factual indications on which an investigation can be based. We ask for your understanding that the time required for this may vary depending on the detail of the information you provide and the type of risk/violation reported.
Please note that at this stage of the procedure, any named or identified persons may be questioned about the facts of the case. If further information is required, we will contact you if possible.
You will receive an interim status report once the investigation has been completed. Irrespective of this, you are free to contact us at any time with any queries regarding the report you have submitted.
3. Conclusion of the investigation:
The investigation is concluded when
• Either there is sufficient factual knowledge to reliably assess the non-existence of the (potential) violation or risk addressed by a report, or
• There is sufficient factual knowledge to reliably assess the existence of the (possible) violation or risk addressed by a report, or
• Further clarification of the facts is not possible by reasonable means or appears disproportionate.
The internal reporting office draws up a written investigation report once the investigation has been completed. This contains a description of the facts ascertained and the (substantiated) results of the investigation.
If a suspicion is confirmed, it is examined - if necessary in conjunction with the HR department - whether or not and what measures should be taken in the specific case within the company or against employees or suppliers. In addition to personnel, labour law, liability law and/or contractual consequences, sending a report to the authorities or the public prosecutor’s office may be appropriate. In any case, we will adopt appropriate measures as part of the possibilities available to us to prevent, minimise or, in the best case, completely eliminate the risk/violation. A corresponding (justified) recommendation will also be included in the investigation report.
Depending on the type and severity of the risk/violation, the investigation may take up to twelve months. To strengthen your trust in our whistleblowing/complaints process, we shall make available to you interim status reports at regular intervals, at least, however, quarterly (including in respect of the status, the follow-up measures planned and adopted and the reasons for the selection of the respective measures). However, please note that information may only be made available to the extent that internal enquiries or investigations are not affected and the rights of the persons who are the subject of a report or who are named in the report are not impaired.
You will receive a final report once the investigation has been completed.
4. . Notifying the management
The internal reporting office will notify the management of the Raiffeisen Commodities Group company affected by the report no later than the conclusion of the investigation, unless earlier notification appears necessary due to the content of the report or the findings of the investigation. The identity of the whistleblower(s) shall not be disclosed to the management.
In the event of a conflict of interest, only the managing directors not affected by the conflict of interest shall be informed. If all managing directors are affected by a conflict of interest, a report is filed to the chairman of the body responsible for monitoring the management or, alternatively, to its members (chairman of the supervisory board or shareholder).
5. Evaluation of the adopted measures:
If possible - we shall contact you again once the procedure has been completed to evaluate the measures taken for the purpose of any subsequent process optimisation and ensure that you are not subsequently exposed to any reprisals. This will usually take place within twelve months of conclusion of the procedure, taking into account the reported risk or offence and the measures taken as a result. If you do not want us to do this, please let us know.
6. Feedback survey:
We shall ask you for your feedback after the underlying process has been completed to ensure that our whistleblowing/complaints procedure at all times meets the needs of our whistleblowers*. If you do not want us to do this, please let us know.
7. Coming into force and regular review
These Rules of Procedure, including the following “FAQs,” replace the previous Rules of Procedure and enter into force on 1 December 2023. They shall be reviewed annually and on an ad hoc basis to ensure that they are up to date, effective and efficient.
The following is a summarised overview of the procedure:
| 1. Submission of report (in person, by telephone, by post, online; complaint form available). Anonymous submission is also possible. | 2. Acknowledgement of receipt within 1 week of receipt of the report. | 3. Initial review and investigation of the facts within 4 weeks of receipt of the report. | 4. Interim report to the whistleblower. |
| 5. Adopting measures within 12 months of completion of the investigation. | 6. Quarterly interim reports to the whistleblower. | 7. Final report to the whistleblower. | 8. Evaluation of implemented measures within 12 months of the conclusion of the procedure. |
* The Act for Better Protection of Whistleblowers (Whistleblower Protection Act - HinSchG) is intended to protect persons who, in conjunction with their professional activities or in the run-up to professional activities, have obtained information about criminal offences, certain offences subject to fines or violations of certain national and directly applicable European legal provisions.
** The risks/violations falling within the scope of the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence to Prevent Human Rights Violations in Supply Chains (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz - LkSG) are provided for in Section 2 (2) and (3) LkSG. Point 2 of our FAQ provides an overview.
FAQ
The whistleblower/complaints procedure is available to all employees of the Raiffeisen Waren Group and also to our customers, suppliers or their employees and other third parties (e.g. directly affected persons or persons with knowledge of a (possible) risk/violation by a direct/indirect supplier). You can find out which legal positions fall within the scope of our whistleblower/complaints procedure in Point 2.
The whistleblower/complaints procedure should be used to report actual or suspected violations of statutory provisions or internal regulations by us or one of our suppliers as well as corresponding risks.
Therefore, reports should be filed in the following cases in particular:
• Corruption / bribery
• Fraud / breach of trust
• Theft / embezzlement / damage to property
• Money laundering
• Violations of antitrust and competition laws
• Violations of data protection regulations, violation of trade and business secrets and other confidential information
• Violations of environmental protection regulations or waste of natural resources
• Cases of verbal and non-verbal, physical or sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination or violence in the workplace
• Violations of occupational health and safety regulations and violations of human rights
You do not need to be completely certain of the facts. Reasonable suspicion can, therefore, also be reported. However, please note the information on false reports made intentionally or through gross negligence under Point 7.
The whistleblower/complaints procedure is not available for problems that do not concern actual or suspected violations. For example, in the event of dissatisfaction with colleagues or superiors, work processes or work instructions or the equipment of company facilities or in the event of incidents from the private sphere unrelated to the company, the respective superior, the HR department and/or the works council shall, at all times, be the appropriate contact persons.
Please describe the underlying facts as precisely as possible. Ideally, you should name the affected company and persons. If you are unsure about the details of your description, please make this clear.
Your report can also be submitted anonymously. In such a case, please make sure that you meet the requirements for an anonymous report (e.g. sending the letter via a post office that is far away from your place of residence and suppression of telephone numbers etc.). With regard to online reporting, we also draw attention to the fact that only the platform provider has access to your data (e.g. IP address) and does not make such data available to us at any time.
The confidentiality of the reports received and your identity is guaranteed in accordance with the statutory provisions. Insofar as you do not submit your report anonymously, your identity will only be known to the internal reporting office and the persons assisting them in processing the report and those responsible for initiating follow-up measures and shall only be disclosed to third parties with your consent or in response to an official or court order. The same applies to the identity of the persons concerned or those persons who are otherwise named in the report, unless disclosure is necessary to take follow-up measures.
Reprisals against whistleblowers are prohibited by law and also contradict our basic principles. Discrimination, hostility and other disadvantages for whistleblowers are just as prohibited as threats or attempts to do so and may be sanctioned under labour law. If whistleblowers contact the internal reporting office or the Compliance Officer because of such harassment, they shall immediately receive support.
The procurement of information may not be punished either, provided the procurement or access to the information itself does not constitute a criminal offence. Rather, we would like to emphasise at this point that we are grateful for any information that helps us achieve our ethical goals in accordance with our legal, social and environmental obligations.
If a report is submitted that intentionally or as a result of gross negligence contains incorrect information, the reporting person shall lose the right to confidentiality of the report and the protection of a whistleblower. Therefore, disciplinary and/or criminal consequences as well as the assertion of any claims for damages are possible.
IYour report will first be checked for validity and to determine whether or not it falls within the scope of this procedure. Follow-up measures are subsequently adopted. Our diagram provides an overview.
Your report will only be reviewed and processed by our internal reporting centre. As a matter of principle, the lawyers from the legal department are responsible. However, if your report concerns one of these persons, it will be passed on to an external law firm for processing with the involvement of our data protection coordinator. In any case, we will ensure that your report is processed independently and free of conflicts of interest. We attach importance to your trust in our whistleblowing/complaints process.
The whistleblower/complaints procedure complies with data protection regulations. The data transmitted as part of an online report are also stored by the operators of the “Trusty” reporting system on servers in Germany. The operator’s privacy policy is available at www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56928825/legal. Our privacy policy for the whistleblower/complaints procedure can be found here.
Your contact person can be found in the confirmation of receipt from our internal reporting centre. Please contact them should you have any questions. If you have submitted your report anonymously and have not received confirmation of receipt for this reason or have any other questions, our lawyers from the legal department or our data protection coordinator are available as contact persons.
We would like to encourage you to submit your report to our internal reporting centre via the aforementioned channels.
In addition, the German Whistleblower Protection Act provides for the possibility of external reporting. To that end, the German federal government has set up an external federal reporting centre at the German Federal Office of Justice. In addition to the German Federal Government’s external reporting office at the German Federal Office of Justice, the existing reporting systems at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and the German Federal Cartel Office will continue to be maintained for their specific areas of responsibility.
Information about external reporting procedures can be found via the following links:
German Federal Office of Justice: (by clicking on this link you will leave the protected area of the Raiffeisen Waren Group.) BfJ - whistleblower centre (bundesjustizamt.de)
German Federal Office for Financial Services Supervision: (by clicking on this link you will leave the protected area of the Raiffeisen Waren Group.) BaFin - Access to the whistleblower centre
German Federal Cartel Office: (by clicking on this link you will leave the protected area of the Raiffeisen Waren Group.) German Federal Cartel Office - information about cartel infringements - Information on cartels, abuse of market power and other infringements
