The "Whistleblowing" System
Cassa Centrale Banca – Credito Cooperativo Italiano S.p.A. has adopted an internal system to enable the reporting of alleged breaches of national and European Union regulations as well as of the principles contained in the Organisation and Management Model adopted pursuant to Italian Legislative Decree 231/2001.
Who can make a report
The following people can make a report:
- employees (also i) when the employment relationship has still not started, if the information on the breaches was acquired during the selection process or in other pre-contractual stages or during the probationary period, ii) following the termination of the employment relationship if the information on the breaches was acquired during the employment) and self-employed workers;
- professional collaborators as set out in article 409 of the Italian Civil Procedure Code (for example, under agency agreements) and article 2 of Italian Legislative Decree 81/15 (collaborations organised by the client);
- workers or collaborators who provide goods or services or who undertake work on behalf of third parties;
- professionals and consultants;
- volunteers and trainees (paid and unpaid);
- shareholders (natural persons);
- people with administrative, control, supervisory or representational roles.
For the purposes of reporting, the above legal relationships must be held with Cassa Centrale Banca – Credito Cooperativo Italiano S.p.A.
How to make a report
Cassa Centrale Banca – Credito Cooperativo Italiano S.p.A. has envisaged a whistleblowing channel which, through IT means, guarantees the confidentiality of the Whistleblower’s identity.
The platform allows reports to be submitted either orally or in writing.
In order to ensure that the person receiving the Report is not hierarchically or functionally subordinate to the reported person, is not himself/herself the alleged perpetrator of the breach, and does not have a potential interest related to the Report such as to compromise impartiality and independence of judgement, the Whistleblower must indicate the area of competence of the facts he/she intends to report:
- company staff except for employees belonging to the Internal Audit Department, fixed-term employees, consultants, Bank’s contractors (Ordinary channel);
- Members of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, General Managers and Internal Auditors, for reports identifying the Head of the Internal Reporting Systems, his/her Deputy and/or his/her staff as the alleged perpetrators of the breach (Alternative channel);
- Members of the Board of Statutory Auditors (Alternative channel).
Access to the platform to upload reports must be made using the following links:
The user manuals of the IT platform are made available to users (Italian version)
The report must enable the identification of the person submitting it, where provided for by the law, and must contain a detailed description of the facts and conduct that are considered to conflict with the law, indicating, where possible, also the documents, the rules which are considered to have been breached and other information that can lead to verification of the reported facts. Finally, the whistleblower is obliged to state whether they have a personal interest linked to the report.
The channel does not envisage the possibility of making personal claims and complaints.
The information acquired will be processed with the greatest possible care and in absolute confidentiality.
The personal data and the information acquired by Cassa Centrale Banca – Credito Cooperativo Italiano S.p.A. to which the report is sent, will be processed by the latter as the Data Controller for the related management, in compliance with a legal obligation. The data will be kept for no more than 5 years from the final outcome of the procedure.
Channels outside Cassa Centrale Banca – Credito Cooperativo Italiano S.p.A.
Primarily, people making reports are encouraged to use internal channels and, given the occurrence of certain conditions, can make an external report directly to the competent authorities.
As far as Italy is concerned, it is possible to make an external report to the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), if, at the time of its presentation, one of the following conditions applies:
- the work context does not envisage the obligatory activation of the internal reporting channel or this is not active or, even if it is activated, it is not compliant with the external law;
- they have already made an internal report and this has not been followed up, where follow up means action taken by the person responsible for managing the reporting channel to assess the case, the outcome of the investigations and any measures adopted;
- they have justified grounds to believe that, if they made an internal report, this would not be effectively followed up or that the act of reporting in itself may lead to the risk of retaliation;
- they have justified grounds to believe that the breach may be an imminent or clear danger to the public interest.
The whistleblower can notify ANAC of any retaliation suffered consequent to making a report.
Reports other than to ANAC can be made in accordance with the means disclosed on the Authority’s website.