Our value management,

Why should I make a report?

Compliance with the applicable laws and the internal guidelines of the company and lawful, ethical conduct are of the highest priority at the Biesterfeld Group.

Biesterfeld therefore provides a whistleblowing system to facilitate the submission of reports about misconduct, criminal behaviour or specific risks within the company. Its aim is to prevent conduct that harms the company.

What sort of information is useful to the Biesterfeld Group?

You can make reports concerning breaches/ crimes of the following categories which go against the company interest:

• Corruption/ Anti-competitive practices
• Incorrect accounts
• Money laundering
• Fraud/ breach of trust/ embezzlement
• Violation of Data Privacy Laws
• Hazard/ Violations of environmental protection regulations
• Violation of occupational health and safety regulations (discrimination or harassment)
• Potential damages/ risks to the disadvantage of the company or a third party

The system also allows you to ask questions about compliance-related issues and the Biesterfeld code of conduct in an entirely confidential and, if you so wish, anonymous environment. Your question will be received by the compliance department.

What is the process for submitting a report? How do I set up a postbox?

To submit an anonymous or personalised report, start by clicking the “Submit report” button located at the top of our introduction page.

The reporting process consists of 4 steps:

1. First, you will be asked to read the information on the protection of your anonymity and to respond to a security query.
2. On the following page, you will be asked about the category of your report.
3. On the report page, you can elaborate on your report in your own words and answer questions about the case by simply selecting responses. In the free text field you can write 5,000 characters, which corresponds to a full DIN A4 page. You may also submit a file of up to 5 MB to support your report. Please bear in mind that documents can contain information about the author. Following the submission of your report, you will receive a reference number to confirm that you have sent this report.
4. Please subsequently set up your own secured postbox. You will receive feedback from us via this postbox, including answers to questions and information about the progress of your report.

If you already have a secured postbox, you can access it directly via the “Login” button. First, you will have to answer a security query.

As long as you do not enter any data from which conclusions about your person can be drawn, the technology of the BKMS^® System will protect your anonymity.

Please rest assured that we are interested only in the case you are reporting. Malpractices should be revealed and financial losses prevented.

How do I receive feedback and remain anonymous at the same time?

The overriding principle of the BKMS^® procedure in use is the protection of the whistleblower. The system's anonymity protection function is certified by an independent body.

When setting up your secured postbox, please select your own pseudonym/user name and password. Your report is kept anonymous through encryption and other special security routines. You will never be asked for personal information at any time during the reporting process. Do not submit any information that can be traced back to you. Please do not use a computer that has been provided by your employer to submit your report.

Via the secured postbox, an examiner will provide you with feedback on what is happening with your information or pose questions if details still need to be clarified - you will also remain anonymous during the dialogue. We are interested in reports to avoid damages, not in you as a whistleblower.