Reporting Office

If you have any indications that Heuking employees or other persons are acting contrary to the interests of our firm or otherwise incorrectly, you should report this. This includes serious compliance violations and criminal offenses such as corruption and fraud, theft and embezzlement, coercion and bullying, but also violations of rules such as discrimination, abuse of power or environmental or human rights-related risks and other breaches of duty. Impending or planned violations may and should also be reported. Even mere suspicions can be reported. Even if these subsequently turn out to be unfounded, whistleblowers do not face any disadvantages. The whistleblower system is not suitable for complaints or for reporting emergencies!

Describe the facts of the case as precisely as possible. Name the organizational unit concerned and the persons involved, the time and place of the incident. Also provide the names of any witnesses. If possible, also send documents such as pictures, e-mails, etc. that support the suspicion. You decide which data you wish to provide, whether you wish to remain anonymous or whether you are available to answer questions from the persons of trust appointed by us. Within seven days of receiving your report, you will receive confirmation that your report has been received (if you have provided contact details). Within a further three months, you will receive feedback on the further handling of your report and the measures taken. Please note that when providing this feedback, we must ensure that any ongoing internal investigations are not jeopardized and that the rights of third parties are not impaired.

All personal details will be treated confidentially and you can submit your report anonymously if you wish. The whistleblower system fulfils the relevant legal requirements. All reports are received confidentially by the Reporting Office and processed responsibly. This also applies to all other trusted persons who have access to the content of the reports (see also process description, section 6: Confidentiality). The documentation of your report will be deleted by Heuking no later than three years after completion of the procedure, unless statutory regulations prevent deletion.

As a whistleblower, you are subject to protection under employment law if, at the time of reporting to the Reporting Office, you have sufficient reason to believe that the information you have reported is true. For this protection to apply, the report must concern a matter that is subject to the Whistleblower Protection Act or other relevant laws (e.g. Supply Chain Due Diligence Act), i.e. in particular criminal offenses and serious administrative offenses. The report must also relate to Heuking or another entity with which you as the whistleblower are or were in professional contact. Whistleblowers must not suffer any disadvantages under employment law even if a reported suspicion subsequently turns out to be unfounded.

There are various reporting channels available to you: You can submit your report in person, via the web form, by telephone, by e-mail or by letter. You also have the option of submitting your report to an external Reporting Office. These are the federal government's external reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice, external reporting offices set up by the federal states and the external reporting offices responsible for special cases, for example at the Federal Cartel Office or the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.

You can also submit your report to EU institutions, bodies, offices or other agencies. These include, for example, the external reporting channels of the Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The contact details can be found on the website of the respective authority. We will be happy to provide you with further information on the external reporting procedures on request.

If you have any queries, you can contact the Reporting Office by telephone or e-mail. In case of doubt, however, it makes sense to use the whistleblower system. The Reporting Office and all other trusted persons handle incoming reports responsibly and prudently and process them on the basis of a wealth of experience.