Whistleblowing

Reporting illegal conducts– Whistleblowing

Legislative source: legislative decree 10th March 2023, no. 24 issued in implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1937

Pursuant to Directive (EU) 2019/1937, Legislative Decree No. 24 of 10th March 2023 (hereinafter "Decree") concerning "the protection of persons who report infringements of Union law and of provisions concerning the protection of persons who report infringements of national legislation". The Decree, the provisions of which have taken effect from 15th July 2023, repeals and amends the previous national rules of the institution of the so-called Whistleblowing, including in a single legislative text the regime of protection of persons who report conducts, acts or omissions that constitute administrative, accounting, civil or criminal offences, which are in breach of national and European provisions and affect the public interest or the integrity of the entity, provided that the alerts are based on factual evidence.

According to the Organization, Management and Control Model based on legislative decree no. 231/2001, adopted by the Company on 31/03/2021 with a resolution of the Board of Directors, the reports can be forwarded and managed through the platform Whistleblowing - Wsb.cmmanzonigroup.it, managed by the Supervisory Body (ODV), for this purpose identified and appointed for monitoring and control on the Organizational Model itself.

The following individuals can submit reports through this channel:

Employees of the Company
Self-employed workers and holders of a collaboration relationship who carry out their work activity at the Company
Workers or collaborators of subjects who provide goods or services or who carry out works on behalf of the Company
Freelancers and consultants who carry out their activity at the Company
Volunteers and trainees, paid and unpaid, who carry out their activity at the Company
Those who do not work for the Company yet, but may have acquired information during the selection or trial phases
Former employees or collaborators, if the information was acquired during the employment relationship
Persons with administrative, management, control, surveillance or representation functions of the Company.

As requested by the law, to ensure adequate confidentiality and transparency in the procedure, the identity of the whistleblower is known only to the Supervisory Body (SB) that receives and manages the report.

In this regard, it should be noted that the processing of data by the SB of the Company, as clarified by the opinion of the Privacy Guarantor of 12th May 2020, as part of the Entity, as provided for by Articles 29 of the Regulation and 2-quaterdecies of Legislative Decree 101/2018, acts and must be designated as the subject authorized to process the data of which it becomes aware in the exercise of its functions, and must comply with the precise instructions provided by the Data Controller, in line with what is provided for by Legislative Decree 231/2001 in the attribution to the SB of autonomous powers of initiative and control for the proper exercise of its functions.

The Decree provides for different reporting methods:

Internal, i.e. addressed to the Supervisory Body (SB) of the Company
External, i.e. addressed to the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC)
Public disclosure, i.e. through the press or other means of communication.

The choice of the reporting channel is not discretionary: whistleblowers are required to use the internal channel and, only if the conditions provided by the Decree occur, they can make an external report to the ANAC or public disclosure.

The internal report is the written or oral communication of information on violations made to the Supervisory Body (SB) of the Company in whose work context the whistleblower operates, using the methods provided by the Wsb.cmmanzonigroup.it platform.

The external report, on the other hand, is the communication presented to the ANAC, in written or oral form, of information on violations, which can be activated only when one of the following conditions occurs:

the activation of the internal reporting channel has not been provided for within the work context or this, even if activated, is not in compliance with what is provided for in Article 4 of the Decree;
the whistleblower has already made an internal report and it has not been followed up;
the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that, if he/she were to make an internal report, it would not be effectively followed up or that the same report may determine the risk of retaliation;
the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that the violation may constitute an imminent or obvious danger to public interest.

Information on how to make an external report is published on the ANAC website in a dedicated section.

Link for reports: www.wsb.cmmanzonigroup.it