Company: HBCYF
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001089113-25-000040
Chunk: 146

Company: HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Chunk 146
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 risks and less than 1% to other categories. The Group Audit Committee has oversight of the Group’s whistleblowing arrangements, and the Chair of the Group Audit Committee acts as HSBC’s Whistleblowers’ Champion with responsibility for ensuring and overseeing the integrity, independence and effectiveness of the Group’s policies and procedures. Regulatory Compliance sets the whistleblowing policy and procedures, and provides the Group Audit Committee with periodic updates on their effectiveness. Specialist teams and investigation functions own whistleblowing controls, with monitoring in place to determine control effectiveness. For further details of the role of the Group Audit Committee in relation to whistleblowing, including updates received in 2024 on operational effectiveness, see page 297 . HSBC Confidential concerns raised in 2024: 1,527 (2023: 1,746) Substantiation rate of concerns investigated through HSBC Confidential in 2024: 35% (2023: 41%)

| HSBC Holdings plcAnnual Report on Form 20-F | 79 |

A responsible approach to tax We seek to pay our fair share of tax in all jurisdictions in which we operate, and to minimise the likelihood of customers using our products and services to evade or inappropriately avoid tax. We also abide by international protocols that affect our organisation. Our approach to tax and governance processes is designed to achieve these goals. Through adoption of the Group’s risk management framework, we seek to ensure that we do not adopt inappropriately tax- motivated transactions or products, and that tax planning is scrutinised and supported by genuine commercial activity. HSBC has no appetite for using aggressive tax structures. With respect to our own taxes, we are guided by the following principles: – We are committed to applying both the letter and spirit of the law. This includes adherence to a variety of measures arising from the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiative including the ‘Pillar Two’ global minimum tax rules that apply to the Group from 2024. These rules seek to ensure that the Group pays tax at a minimum rate of 15% in each jurisdiction in which it operates. We have identified 14 jurisdictions that may have an effective tax rate below 15% in 2024. We continually monitor the number of active subsidiaries within each jurisdiction as part of our ongoing entity rationalisation programme. – We seek to ensure that our entities active in nil or low tax jurisdictions have clear business rationale for why they are based in these locations and appropriate transparency over their activities. – We seek to have open and transparent relationships with