Company: INGVF
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001628280-25-010764
Chunk: 97

Company: ING GROEP NV
Filing Date: 2025-03-06
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 97
---
 ways to enhance and harmonise our ‘speak up’ channels. Concerns can be reported to a variety of channels, like managers, HR, confidential advisers and Whistleblower Reporting Officers. We want our people to feel safe to raise concerns and to be confident that we will treat any concern reported adequately.
We also support our people in raising whistleblower concerns by providing them with an anonymous reporting option – regardless of how concerns are reported, these are always treated with utmost confidentiality; disclosing reporters’ rights and responsibilities; and having strict anti-retaliation measures in place. Also, external parties such as customers, shareholders, suppliers and other stakeholders can report any suspicions and complaints on misconduct or behaviour via the page 'Complaints about our conduct' on ing.com. 
ING does not tolerate any form of retaliation by any employee, including (senior) management. It is strictly prohibited to retaliate against a reporter or anyone providing information or assisting in an investigation. The global Whistleblower Policy and procedure as well as the Global Investigations Charter outline the minimum 

mechanisms to ensure fair, timely, careful and proportionate follow-up on concerns raised. All concerns reported are tracked by a Whistleblower Reporting Officer who performs an intake (scoping assessment) and, if in scope, a review (determining if there is sufficient ground to advise on investigation). The department of Corporate Special Investigations (CSI), part of Corporate Audit Services, or the local Special Investigations Function (SIF), is responsible for conducting the investigations. CSI or SIF follow the Global Investigations Charter, which aims to ensure the investigation is conducted in an independent, objective, impartial and confidential manner.
In 2024, ING further reiterated the importance of the protection of reporters and anyone providing information or who otherwise assists in an investigation in an updated Whistleblower Policy and global procedure. This process included a revamp of both global and specialist learnings. Furthermore, ING entities have created local policy annexes where necessary in case of specific local legal requirements based on the transposition of the EU Directive 2019/1937 (on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law/ Whistleblowing into national law).
A new mandatory global e-learning was rolled out to employees educating them on the whistleblower channel, anonymity and confidentiality, their rights and responsibilities as reporters, the importance of awareness on retaliation, and how the follow up on concerns is handled. We monitor the timely completion of the e-learning by employees via the compliance risk dashboard. Furthermore, next