Bundeskartellamt acts as external reporting unit under the German Whistleblower Protection Act

On 2 July 2023 the Bundeskartellamt took up its role as an external reporting unit for whistleblowers under the new Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz – HinSchG). The Whistleblower Protection Act is to ensure that whistleblowers are protected against detriment or reprisals when reporting information on violations of law in connection with their work-related activities.

The Bundeskartellamt has established special reporting channels to guarantee whistleblowers are protected in accordance with legal requirements. Whistleblowers can use these channels to pass on their information while staying anonymous if they wish. Even when disclosing their names, whistleblowers benefit from a special protection of their identities.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “We encourage all potential whistleblowers to make use of the protection provided by the new Whistleblower Protection Act and contact us whenever they suspect that violations of competition law have been committed in their professional environment. Passing on their information will help to effectively expose and prosecute cartels and other violations of competition law. The new reporting system complements our existing toolkit to systematically examine markets for irregularities, which includes our anonymous digital whistleblowing system, our leniency programme and our screening activities.”

As external reporting unit under the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Bundeskartellamt is the competent authority for handling information on violations of competition law (German Competition Act, Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen – GWB) and of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA). For violations regarding the financial system (including banks, financial services institutions, private insurers, asset managers, securities trading), the Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is the competent external reporting unit; all other violations can be reported to the Federal Office of Justice. The Whistleblower Protection Act also provides that companies set up their own internal reporting units. Nevertheless, to ensure effective prosecution, whistleblowers can always contact the external reporting unit at the Bundeskartellamt, regardless of whether they have made use of such internal reporting units.

There have been many cases where insider information provided by whistleblowers helped the Bundeskartellamt initiate proceedings and impose substantial fines. This allowed the authority to effectively protect competition and prevent further damage. The Bundeskartellamt’s new role as external reporting unit under the Whistleblower Protection Act increases the protection of whistleblowers in work-related contexts and complements the authority’s own existing systems for exposing cartels and other violations of competition law. The authority will continue to rely, among other factors, on its cooperation with whistleblowers and other relevant authorities to ensure that competition remains fair and laws continue to be respected.