Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 153

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 153
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 stakeholder through our corporate website and the Canal Abierto platform. Canal Abierto is mainly set up to receive reports from employees; however, some subsidiaries’ local channels are open to vendors, customers and other stakeholders, who can report violations of the GCC. Business incidents or complaints outside of Canal Abierto ’s scope are not accepted on these channels. On Canal Abierto, whistleblowers can report their suspicions about professional conduct related to: → unlawful acts at the workplace; → irregularities or breaches of the General code of conduct and its implementing regulation that may be subject to disciplinary action; → improper accounting or auditing practices, internal control or influence on external auditors (SOX); → violations of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws or of our internal regulations to comply with those laws, as well as acts of corruption and bribery;

→ violations of securities market laws; → conduct that may involve an act that infringes the law or any other regulation and, in particular, a serious or very serious criminal or administrative offence or infringement of European Union law; and → acts or conduct that go against the Group’s corporate behaviours. Santander pledges to handle reports received through Canal Abierto in a diligent, independent and objective manner for the benefit of the parties involved. This is a protective measure for the people who communicate in good faith through the channel, as well as for anyone else who takes part of the related internal investigations. The following criteria, which we set out in the Group’s Canal Abierto policy, reflect that pledge: → Appropriate handling of the reports received, notwithstanding their possible rejection should they fall under any of the cases provided for in internal regulations or if it is considered that there are no grounds for a case. → 60-day processing time, which could be extended by up to 30 days for cases that are considered especially complex. → Conflict of interest management during the investigation of cases, in which anyone who may have a conflict of interest with the persons involved in the matter will refrain from taking part. The usage and operation procedure details the teams tasked with investigating each case in relation to the type of report. → The prohibition of reprisals against employees or other stakeholders who report, in good faith, breaches of internal or external regulations or conduct that does not align with our corporate behaviours, for having merely accessed an ethical channel. Every year, our employees undertake a mandatory training course on the General code of conduct that includes a module on the importance of using Canal Abierto . Moreover, we raise awareness of Canal Ab