1. Material scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act

The Whistleblower Protection Act is used for a large number of information reports. Depending on the particular case you wish to report, the competence lies with one of the external reporting offices. Besides BaFin’s Contact Point for Whistleblowers, the Federal Cartel Office also has its own external reporting office and the government’s central external reporting office is located at the Federal Office of Justice.

BaFin’s Contact Point for Whistleblowers is the competent office if you wish to report infringements of supervisory law. Besides supervising banks, financial services providers, payment institutions and e-money institutions, BaFin also supervises private insurance companies and pension funds. It is also the competent supervisor for German asset managers and for securities trading. BaFin also ensures that the companies it supervises comply with the applicable requirements for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and is responsible for collective consumer protection in the financial services area. Details on the area of competence of BaFin’s Contact Point for Whistleblowers can be found under section 21 of the Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz).

You should contact the Federal Cartel Office if you wish to divulge information on

• violations of German and European cartel prohibitions (incl. vertical) (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), section 1 of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen – GWB),
• violations of the German and European prohibition of the abuse of market dominance, especially in the energy sector (Article 102 of the TFEU, sections 19, 20, 29 of the GWB)
• violations of the prohibition to implement a concentration (section 41 of the GWB)
• infringements of enforceable orders and obligations of competition authorities
• cases concerning the prohibition of boycott (i.e. requesting other undertakings or associations of undertakings to refuse to supply to or purchase from certain undertakings) (section 21 (1) of the GWB)
• cases in which undertakings exert influence on others to violate the antitrust law (section 21 (2) and (3) of the GWB)
• cases in which persons are threatened with economic harm if they request action to be taken by the competition authority (section 21 (4) of the GWB)
• cases in which an application contains incorrect or incomplete information in order to obtain recognition of a competition rule (section 24 (4) sentence 3 of the GWB)
• cases in which incorrect or incomplete information is contained in a notification of company concentrations (section 39 (3) sentence 5 of the GWB)
• cases of misconduct on the part of major online platforms on digital markets (DMA - Digital Markets Act)

Please contact the German government’s central reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice if you wish to divulge information concerning

• German criminal law
• the German Act on Breaches of Administrative Regulations (Ordnungswidrigkeitengesetz ) if the breached regulation serves to protect body, life or health or the rights of employees or their representative bodies
• statements made by civil servants that constitute a violation of their duty to show loyalty to the constitution.
• product safety and conformity
• transport safety
• environmental protection
• radiation protection and nuclear safety
• food safety, feed safety, animal health and animal protection
• public health
• consumer protection
• protection of privacy and personal data, safety of network and information systems
• public procurements
• tax law of corporations and commercial partnerships
• protection of the financial interests of the European Union
• state aid
• other internal market regulations (regulations of the European Union on the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital)

2. Cases in which you are not covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act

Your report does not lie within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act if it contains the following information: 

• information that concerns national security or essential security interests of the state, particularly military or other security-sensitive issues belonging to the area of activity of the Federal Ministry of Defence or critical infrastructures within the meaning of the KRITIS regulation of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI-Kritisverordnung),
• information from intelligence agencies of the federal government or federal states or from authorities or other public sector entities of the federal government or federal states if they perform duties within the meaning of section 10 no. 3 of the Security Clearance Check Act (Sicherheitsüberprüfungsgesetz) or within the meaning of corresponding legal provisions of the federal states, or
• information concerning the awarding of public procurements and concessions that lie within the scope of Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

• A report or disclosure also does not lie within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act if it conflicts with:

  • a secrecy or confidentiality obligation regarding the material or organisational protection of classified information
  • the secrecy of the deliberations of a court,
  • the obligations to maintain confidentiality to which lawyers, defence counsels in statutory regulated proceedings, non-lawyer providers of legal services who have been admitted to a bar association, patent attorneys and notaries are subject,
  • obligations to maintain confidentiality applicable to doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and other members of a medical profession for which a state-regulated training is required in order for them to exercise their profession or use the job title, with the exception of veterinarians if the matter concerns violations of the legal provisions for protecting agricultural livestock held for commercial purposes that are covered by section 2 (1) no. 3 (k) of the Whistleblower Protection Act, or
  • obligations to maintain confidentiality applicable to persons who, on account of a contractual relationship including the joint exercise of a profession, activity in preparation of a profession or other form of help, assist in the professional activity of the persons subject to professional secrecy named in nos. 2, 3 and 4 of section 5 (2) of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

3. Cases in which other provisions on the submission of reports have priority

VHere is a list of provisions for submitting reports that are given priority: 

• information on infringements under sections 6 (5), 53 of the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz)
• information on infringements under section 25a (1) sentence 6 no. 3 of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz
• information on infringements under section 13 (1) of the German Investment Firm Act (Wertpapierinstitutsgesetz)
• information on infringements under section 58 of the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz)
• information on infringements under section 23 (6) of the German Insurance Supervision Act (Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz)
• section 28 (1) sentence 2 no. 9 and section 68 (4) sentence 3 of the German Investment Code (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch)
• sections 3b and 5 (8) of the German Stock Exchange Act (Börsengesetz)
• section 55b (2) no. 7 of the Law Regulating the Profession of Wirtschaftsprüfer (Wirtschaftsprüferordnung)
• Article 32 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse (Market Abuse Regulation) and
  repealing Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC (OJ
  L 173 from 12 June 2014, p. 1; L 287 from 21 October 2016, p. 320; L 348 from 21 December 2016, p. 83), last amended by Directive (EU) 2021/1783 (OJ
  L 359 from 11 October 2021, p. 1) in the version in force at the material time.
• articles 4 and 5 of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation, amending Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Directive 2003/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 1321/2007 and (EC) No 1330/2007 (OJ L 122 of 24 April 2014, p. 18), last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2034 (OJ L 416 of 11 December 2020, p. 1) in the respective applicable version, and the statutory instruments adopted on the basis of Section 32 (1) No. 1 of the German Air Traffic Act (Luftverkehrsgesetz),
• sections 127 and 128 of the Maritime Labour Act (Seearbeitsgesetz)
• section 14 (1) of the Ship Safety Act (Schiffssicherheitsgesetz) in conjunction with Section D item 8 of the Annex to the Ship Safety Act and the statutory instruments concerning complaints regarding safety of ships flying a foreign flag, including health and safety of its crew, the working and living conditions on board and the prevention of pollution by ships flying a foreign flag that were adopted on the basis of sections 9, 9a and 9c of the Federal Maritime Responsibilities Act (Seeaufgabengesetz)
• statutory instruments adopted on the basis of section 57c first sentence no. 1 and section 68 (2) in conjunction with (3) and sections 65, 66 and 67 nos. 1 and 8 and sections 126, 128 and 129 of the Federal Mining Act (Bundesberggesetz).