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Italferr S.p.A. has adopted and put into place a procedure for collecting and processing whistleblowing reports (anonymous or otherwise) concerning Italferr S.p.A. (hereinafter the "Company"), from Third Parties or any persons associated with FS Italiane Group, in order to contrast any wrongdoing or violations of the Organisational, Management and Control Model adopted pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 231/2001 (hereinafter the “231 Corporate Model”), the Anti Bribery & Corruption Management System (hereinafter the “ABC System”), the FS Group Code of Ethics, and all other applicable laws or regulations.

The procedure complies with the regulatory changes introduced by Legislative Decree No. 24 of 10 March 2023, implementing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law and laying down provisions concerning the protection of persons who report breaches of national laws (the so-called "Whistleblowing Decree").

The report handling process has become an integral part of Italferr S.p.A.'s “231 Corporate Model”.

THE WHISTLEBLOWING PLATFORM

Italferr S.p.A. has activated a special online platform, which is the preferred tool for sending and handling whistleblowing reports, as it is best suited to ensuring the confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity and adequate information security measures.

WHO CAN MAKE A REPORT

The following persons may raise a whistleblowing concern:

employees, self-employed workers, freelance collaborators, volunteers and unpaid trainees working for the Companies;
employees or freelance collaborators of companies that supply goods or services or carry out works for third parties; self-employed professionals and consultants working for the Companies; shareholders and staff members of the Companies with administrative, management, control, supervisory or representative functions.

The above individuals may report any wrongdoing or violations they become aware of in connection with their work.

Whistleblowing reports can also be made:

before becoming an employee, if the whistleblower becomes aware of any violations during the recruitment process or at other pre-contractual stage;
during the trial period;
after leaving the Company, if the whistleblower became aware of the information concerning any violations that occurred while he/she was still an employee of the Company.

Italferr S.p.A. hopes that the whistleblower clearly states his/her identity in the report, which shall be kept strictly confidential, in accordance with the applicable regulations, in order to facilitate the investigation process into the reported occurrences and to keep the whistleblower informed about the progress of the investigation. However, anonymous reports will also be accepted and investigated.

WHAT TO REPORT

Any wrongdoing or suspected violations of the law (of any type, whether actions or omissions) by persons in any way related to FS Italiane Group or Third Parties, constituting:

a violation of the “231 Corporate Model” and its rules of implementation and/or of the "ABC System" and/or of the Code of Ethics and/or of the internal corporate regulations and/or any wrongdoings capable of causing damage or harm, even if only in terms of its reputation, to FS Italiane Group;
an administrative, accounting, civil or criminal offence;
unlawful conduct, pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 231 of 8 June 2001;
an offence falling within the scope of EU law and of the national regulations implementing EU law;
actions or omissions affecting the financial interests of the European Union;
actions or omissions affecting the internal market (e.g. violations of the regulations governing competition and state aid);
actions or conduct that frustrate the object or purpose of the provisions of EU law.

Whistleblowing reports must refer to facts and occurrences known to the whistleblower, who must have reasonable grounds to believe that the information reported is true at the time of reporting.

Reports must be made in a timely manner, with respect to knowledge of the facts and occurrences, so that they may be effectively investigated.

The following shall not be treated as whistleblowing reports: (1) complaints, claims or requests of a personal nature by a whistleblower, relating exclusively to his/her individual employment relationship or to his/her relationship with a superior; (2) communications or complaints relating to activities of a commercial or public service nature.

COMPANY WHISTLEBLOWING CHANNELS

Whistleblowing reports may be sent to the competent body via any of the following channels: i) the relevant online platform accessible from the Company’s website and intranet; ii) by email to the dedicated address; iii) by ordinary mail; iv) verbally, by means of a statement made by the whistleblower at a special hearing.

Italferr is currently implementing a dedicated telephone line/voice messaging system for whistleblowing purposes. The online platform, however, is the preferred reporting channel as it is best suited to ensuring the confidentiality of the whistleblower's identity and other adequate data security measures. The online reporting channel can be used to:

submit a report
edit or update a submitted report
consult the status of a report
receive feedback on the follow-up to the report.

The key characteristics of the platform are:

it keeps the whistleblower’s identity separate from the contents of the report by encoding his/her personal data, so that the report can be processed anonymously;
it maintains the confidentiality of the report during its processing by allowing access to authorised persons only;
it adopts secure protocols for data transmission across the network and the use of encryption tools for the content of the report and any attached documents;
it can interact with the whistleblower, guaranteeing his/her anonymity.

EXTERNAL REPORTING AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

Legislative Decree No. 24/2023 provides for the possibility of making external reports to the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) and public disclosures of violations or wrongdoing in the cases expressly provided for in the said Decree.

External reporting to the ANAC is allowed only in the following cases:

if the internal reporting channel is not working or if it fails to comply with the applicable legal requirements;
in cases where the whistleblower has already made an internal report that has not been followed up;
where the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that, if he/she made an internal report, it would not be effectively followed up or that it might lead to a risk of retaliation;

where the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that the breach may constitute an imminent or obvious danger to the public interest.

Italferr S.p.A. guarantees the strict confidentiality of the whistleblower's identity, in accordance with the law, from the moment it receives a report and prohibits (and sanctions, insofar as it is allowed by the law) any form of direct or indirect retaliation or discrimination against the whistleblower, in connection with his/her report, even if attempted or threatened, including any omissions, as well as any forms of retaliation and discrimination directed at third parties connected to the whistleblower, such as relatives, work colleagues, legal entities owned by or employing the whistleblowers and associated with FS Italiane Group for business purposes.

To ensure that no retaliation takes place against the whistleblower, even after a report has been made, a monitoring procedure of the whistleblower’s work status shall be activated, if he/she is an employee of the Companies, for a period of two years from the date of the report.

The staff members involved, in any capacity, in the handling and management of whistleblowing reports are bound to strict confidentiality, in accordance with the law, as to the existence and content of the report received and the relevant investigation activities and undertake to ensure the strict confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity, in accordance with the applicable legislation.

The whistleblower shall receive acknowledgement of receipt of his/her report within 7 days and shall thereafter be consistently informed about the progress and outcome of the investigation carried out on the reported matter.

The Company shall protect the rights of the person(s) involved in a whistleblower’s report, first of all by ensuring strict confidentiality of their identity, which must comply with the “need to know” principle (whereby any person is authorised to access certain information only if this is strictly necessary – and solely to the extent that it is necessary – to perform his/her duties, in accordance with the tasks assigned to him/her by the Company).

The person(s) involved shall be promptly informed of the filing of a report against them and shall receive a copy of the report, however without any reference whatsoever to the identity of the whistleblower, which shall not be disclosed to the person(s) involved under any circumstances, except as expressly provided by the law.

The person(s) involved are entitled to be kept informed about the progress and outcome of the whistleblowing investigation. After due consideration, disclosure to the person(s) involved may be delayed, or withheld, in whole or in part, if it becomes necessary to await further action by the competent public authorities, or if it is reasonable to believe that any such disclosure may jeopardise the confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity, as protected by the law.

Reports shall be addressed to the Ethics Committee (Comitato Etico) and/or the Supervisory Board (Organismo di Vigilanza) of the Company. The latter is responsible for handling reports of violations or attempted avoidance or circumvention of the “231 Corporate Model” and/or of the rules of implementation thereof, or of any violations of the Code of Ethics that are or may be relevant, pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 231/2001. Investigations into the facts and occurrences referred to in the report shall be carried out by the Company's Internal Audit Function.

As part of the reporting process, personal data is processed in accordance with the applicable legislation (EU Regulation 679/2016 and Legislative Decree 196/2003, as amended by Legislative Decree 101/2018). Click on the following link to consult information on personal data processing.

Whistleblowing - Personal data protection policy notice(.pdf — 84 KB)

ALTERNATIVELY, REPORTS CAN BE SUBMITTED VERBALLY, BY MEANS OF A STATEMENT MADE BY THE REPORTER AT A SPECIAL HEARING, TO ITALFERR'S ETHICS COMMITTEE/SUPERVISORY BODY, RECORDED IN THE MINUTES AND SIGNED BY THE REPORTER, OR THROUGH THE FOLLOWING CHANNELS:

ORDINARY MAIL

Italferr SpA / Segreteria Comitato Etico or Segreteria Organismo di Vigilanza, via Vito Giuseppe Galati, 71 - 00155 Roma

E-MAIL

comitato.etico@italferr.it

organismodivigilanza@italferr.it

FAQ: Management of reports Italferr SpA

Do you have a report you would like to send to Italferr SpA? Here is a concise guide for you with instructions for making a report and the list of reporting channels.

FAQ Whistleblowing