Whistle Blowing Policy and Procedure
1 Purpose
Huawei Technologies Switzerland AG. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company” or “Huawei”) wishes to pursue an open and honest working environment and comply with applicable laws with regard to the protection of whistleblowers.
This Whistle Blowing Policy and Procedure (“Policy”) aims to establish an internal whistleblowing channel allowing whistleblowers (Section 3) to report violations of laws and regulations (Section 2) in the course of business operations of the Company. Whistleblowers shall have the right to report such violations confidentially and without fear of retaliation, detriment, or less favorable treatment.
This Policy establishes corresponding procedures for receiving and processing of such reports or complaints by the Company, sets out a process for the protection of whistleblowers, and defines the respective roles (“Whistleblowing System”).
2 What can be reported under this Policy?
2.1 This Policy applies to reporting violations of laws and regulations in the course of business operations of the Company in the following areas (“Violations”):
- public procurement;
- financial services, products and markets, and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing;
- product safety and compliance;
- transport safety;
- protection of the environment;
- radiation protection and nuclear safety;
- food and feed safety, animal health and welfare;
- public health;
- consumer protection;
- protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information systems;
- anti-bribery and corruption.
2.2 Additionally, this Policy also applies to report of the following serious breaches of the Company’s internal rules and regulations (especially the “Business Code of Conduct”) which are also considered Violations under this Policy:
- breaches of the Anti-Corruption and Bribery Code of Conduct or potential breaches of probity, especially, but not limited to acts of bribery or practice related to influence peddling;
- breaches leading to risks for Huawei related to:
- a breach of an international commitment duly ratified or approved by Switzerland or of a unilateral act of an international organization adopted based on such commitment or an attempt of dissimulation of such one;
- a threat or harm to the public interest;
- fraud
- breach of national or international law or other applicable code of conduct;
- harassment or discrimination;
- violations of confidentiality obligations;
- or violations of personal health and safety.
3 Who is qualified to report possibly unlawful behavior?
3.1 The following persons (“Whistleblowers”) who have obtained information about Violations (Section 2) based on a current or previous professional connection with Huawei are qualified to submit a report under this Whistleblowing System:
- Huawei employees, employees, and workers leased by or assigned to Huawei; or
- applicants for a job; or
- interns, trainees, voluntary workers, apprentices; or
- self-employed persons; or
- members of an administrative, management, or supervisory body of Huawei; or
- by working or having worked under the supervision and management of a contractor, a subcontractor, or a subcontractor of the legal entity or its suppliers.
3.2 This Policy shall also apply to shareholders of Huawei who have obtained information about violations within the scope of Article 2 of this Policy due to a current or previous professional connection to Huawei.
4 Whistleblowing channels
4.1 Internal whistleblowing channel
If you (Whistleblower, Section 3) have a reasonable belief of the existence of misconduct in the fields mentioned above (Violations, Section 2), in relation to Huawei or arising from or related to its business, management, and operations, you can report the matter confidentially, in writing or in person, regardless of whether this belief is based on direct or indirect knowledge of the facts to your immediate manager, your manager's manager, HR, or by using the group reporting channel at WhistleBlowingCH@huawei.com. If the matter is more serious or if you feel that your report has not addressed your concern, or you prefer not to raise it with them for any reason, you should contact Huawei’s Compliance Officer or CEO.
The report will be handled in accordance with Huawei’s internal policies and procedures. All of the reported misconduct will be transferred to and be only investigated by Huawei Switzerland’s Compliance Officer independently, then any other follow up measure taken and feedback should be shared with the reporting person accordingly. And further investigation of reported misconduct if any will be led by the Compliance Officer and be conducted by an investigation team consisting of the members from the HR, Compliance, Quality and Operations, and Legal Departments as necessary and appropriate. If a report concerns an individual in the investigation team, the report will not be handled by that specific individual.
The Compliance Officer and the investigation team must act impartially, without bias, and without prejudice when processing the reports. The Compliance Officer must keep the identity of the Whistleblower confidential and secure, and ensure personal data related in protection.
Any report under this Policy should be made in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the allegations are substantially true.
5 Whistleblowing procedure
5.1 Reporting modalities
When reporting behaviors or situations throughout the Whistleblowing System, the Company encourages the Whistleblower to indicate its identity (first and last name), position and contact information (telephone number and/or e-mail address) as well as the facts wished to be reported (description of the Violation, date of the reported facts, location, persons involved), supported by any evidence that Whistleblower would consider relevant. Whistleblower will be asked to provide all elements that Whistleblower deems useful for the investigation.
All oral reports may be recorded or transcribed into a written report, with the Whistleblower’s consent. Alternatively, detailed minutes of the report will be prepared. Whistleblower will be given opportunity to verify, correct, and approve the mentioned report or minutes, by signing.
5.2 Confidentiality
Whether the report is made in writing or orally, Compliance Officer will keep the identity of the Whistleblower confidential throughout the whistleblowing procedure. This also applies to all other information from which the identity of Whistleblower can be directly or indirectly deduced. In certain situations, the Compliance Officer may be required to disclose the identity of the Whistleblower to public authorities and/or courts if required by law. This is without prejudice to the right of the Company to report the Violation to competent authorities if and when the reported facts are particularly serious and/or if required by law.
5.3 Anonymous reports
Anonymous reports are discouraged by the Company, in order to allow Whistleblower to benefit from the highest level of the legal protection and to enable the Compliance Officer to reach out to the Whistleblower whenever further verifications of the reported facts are necessary. The report is not considered anonymous, when identity of Whistleblowers is not explicitly mentioned in the report, but Whistleblower’s identity is known to the Compliance Officer.
Nonetheless, anonymous reports can also be made, especially if Whistleblower considers that the reported facts are straightforward and undoubtedly serious as well as backed with sufficient and detailed evidence. However, Huawei can only investigate as far as how much information is provided. Please note that vague or incomplete information might be insufficient for initiating or completing a proper investigation.
5.4 Applicable for all the communications:
The facts Whistleblower wish to report (description of the violation, date of the reported facts, location, persons involved), supported by any evidence Whistleblower would consider relevant, with as much detail as possible in view of allowing for an adequate investigation of the report.
Whistleblower will be requested to provide all elements Whistleblower deem useful for the investigation. Such elements shall be provided alongside with Whistleblower’s declaration, but they can be communicated later on as well, upon Huawei request or Whistleblower’s own initiative.
6 Procedure applicable for processing the reports made throughout the Whistleblowing System
The Whistleblowing System is a scheme that has been implemented in order to facilitate the report of Violations and to ensure the confidentiality and protection of the Whistleblower. The use of this system by Whistleblowers is not mandatory.
Regardless of the medium Whistleblower used to report a Violation, the following process will apply:
a. Acknowledgement of receipt of your report. Whistleblower will be informed, in writing when possible, about the receipt and the foreseeable time necessary for the examination of its admissibility. The Company draws Whistleblower’s attention to the fact that such an acknowledgment of receipt of the report shall never be construed as a confirmation of its admissibility. To be admissible, the report must comply with the reporting modalities set out in this Policy.
b. Preliminary analysis of the reported information. An initial assessment will be carried out by the Compliance Officer to ensure that the declaration falls within the scope of this Policy and whether there are indications for the validity of the report.
c. In case when the facts reported meet the requirements of this Policy the Compliance Officer will start investigation to verify the reported facts. If the Compliance Officer considers that the reported matter shall not be subject to any further verification, he/she will close the file. If the reported matter relates to an ethical or legal issue other than set out in this Policy, the Compliance Officer shall process it in compliance with applicable law and may transmit it to the person within Huawei competent for handling this issue.
Compliance Officer is required to include in the file the detailed documentation of the entire investigation procedure developed, including the investigation plan initially drawn up, all the documents that are collected and the minutes of the interviews that are held.
d. Further verification. If necessary, Whistleblower will be asked to provide any useful additional elements, evidence, to support a proper processing of the report.
e. Interviews. During the investigation, as the case may be, Whistleblower and any other stakeholder may be interviewed or questioned by the Compliance Officer or by a member of the investigation team. Interviews led by the Company are of a non-coercive nature. When appropriate, minutes of the interview will be drafted and the interviewee will have the opportunity to read it, and comment it if need be, before signing it.
Exceptionally, if Compliance Officer considers that there is a risk that the notification of the subjects under investigation may compromise the investigation or pose a retaliatory risk, such communication may be postponed until such risk disappears.
f. The Compliance Officer must inform the Whistleblower no later than three months after receiving a report regarding (i) which follow-up measures (actions taken to assess the allegations made in the report, and where relevant, to address the Violation, such as internal enquiry, investigation, prosecution, etc.) the Compliance Officer has taken or intends to take, or (ii) the reasons why the Compliance Officer is not following up on the report.
g. In view of conducting an effective and adequate investigation of the report, the Compliance Officer is granted the appropriate authority, resources and access to information and collection of evidence. For such purposes, and notwithstanding the duty of ensuring that (i) the whistleblower is not retaliated in any way by any person in the company, that (ii) the investigation is not carried out by a person who was involved in this issue, and also that (iii) the status and results of the investigation are treated in full confidentiality, Compliance Officer may require cooperation and assistance of relevant personnel.
h. At the end of the investigation, an official report will be drawn up for recording (i) all the facts and evidence gathered, both incriminating and exculpatory, to establish or remove the suspicion, (ii) as well as the follow-up measures (actions taken to assess the allegations made in the report, and where relevant, to address the Violation, such as internal enquiry, investigation, prosecution, etc. up to closure of the procedure). The report will conclude on the action to be taken. This report is transmitted to the CEO of the Company, as well as to the Compliance Officer, who is required to review internal policies and controls to examine if immediate and appropriate steps are required to improve their efficiency.
i. If the allegations are proven by the investigation report then the reported staff member is susceptible to be found responsible for the alleged facts:
- graduated disciplinary sanctions could be taken depending on the seriousness of the reported facts in accordance with the provisions of the Internal Regulations;
- as the case may be, “commercial” or “contractual” sanctions, appropriate to the seriousness of the facts reported, will be applied to the third party or parties concerned;
- and/or legal actions as required by law shall be launched.
The final decision regarding such actions will be taken by the Huawei’s management team.
Huawei CEO and top management are kept informed during the whole investigation procedure, when appropriate, while respecting confidentiality obligations and personal data regulations.
Some other internal actions may also be taken by the Company on the basis of the investigation report, when appropriate, such as an update of its compliance risk mapping or of some internal rules and regulations and/or follow-on communication about the investigated matter and their consequences.
The Compliance Officer shall then inform the whistleblower of the conclusions of the investigation. The whistleblower may also request, at any time, that Huawei informs him or her of the result of the analysis carried out on the complaint, within a period of fifteen days. Sometimes the need for confidentiality may prevent Whistleblower from having specific details regarding any investigation or any disciplinary action that may be taken against any relevant staff member as a result. Whistleblower should also treat any information Whistleblower may receive about the investigation as confidential.
Finally, we insist on the following, any disclosure under this Policy:
- must be done in good faith, with a reasonable belief that the allegations are substantially true: even if the facts are finally inaccurate or not follow by any measure, shall not expose the Whistleblower to any disciplinary sanction and/or legal sanctions;
- shall not be made for disparaging improper reasons or in bad faith;
- shall not be made for direct financial gain.
The Company aims at encouraging openness and will support any member of Company’s staff or third party who raises genuine alerts in accordance with this Policy. However, it must be noted that anyone disclosing such acts as shown above, will not qualify for protection if a criminal offence is committed in the disclosing of the information.
7 Limited scope and specific nature of the whistleblowing system
This Policy should be exclusively used for complaints relating with the scope detailed in article above. If Whistleblower is uncertain whether something is within the scope of this Policy, Whistleblower should seek advice from Compliance Officer.
Reports that are obviously false and submitted in bad faith will be rejected by the management team and the Whistleblower shall be notified that such false reports may give rise to disciplinary action when appropriate, and/or claims for damages and/or may be prosecuted in court or as an administrative offense by competent authorities.
It will be under management team’s discretion to determine the appropriate course of action following any report under this Policy.
Any staff member must usually first report misconduct internally to Huawei. Generally, if all means of reporting internally have been exhausted and only if there is a public interest concern (e.g. a breach of criminal law), the staff member may then disclose the relevant issue to the public authorities.
8 Rights of the reported staff member
The reported staff member (and/or staff member subject to a follow-up measure) will be informed of the allegations in a timely manner (i) by registered letter sent to their personal postal addresses and/or (ii) by protected email at their professional email addresses and/or (iii) orally in person.
The person concerned may be informed only after a reasonable period of time necessary to secure the evidence of the Violation and to take required and appropriate follow-up measures and measures of protection.
Compliance Officer may withhold information regarding a report to the extent necessary to protect the identity of a Whistleblower, a facilitator or a person affected by or involved in follow-up measures.
The reported staff member (and/or staff member subject to a follow-up measure) may exercise his/her right to defend its interest by any available and legal means in order to challenge all or part of the facts reported against him/her and the findings of the internal investigation.
Participation in interviews led by the Company are voluntary. In case of interview organized by Huawei as per the Policy, the following rights will apply:
- right to a legal counsel and an interpreter when appropriate;
- right to remain silent and possibility of ending the interview at any time.
When appropriate, minutes of the interview will be drafted and the reported staff will have the opportunity to read it, and comment it if need be, before signing it.
In the case some grievances are retained against him/her in the final investigation report, he/she may have access to those extracts of the report that concern him/her directly, upon request.
However, in any case the reported staff members have no right to obtain the information related to the identity of the authors of the reports.
9 Security and confidentiality
Huawei will deal with the reports with a maximum degree of confidentiality at each stage of its processing and review.
Strong security and confidentiality measures have been implemented. Especially, the following safeguards are provided:
- Any staff member and/or person (in particular Compliance Officer) dedicated to the Whistleblowing System is subject to a documented and reinforced obligation of confidentiality. Any violations of confidentiality can lead to disciplinary sanction.
- Access to the report is restricted to the dedicated authorized person (exclusively the Compliance Officer in charge of the file and the persons instructed and personally supervised by the Referral person) having an identification access.
The Whistleblower is informed that his/her identity will be kept confidential at all stages of the processing and will be not disclosed to anyone outside of the authorized persons.
Consequently, the Whistleblower submitting a report in compliance with the Policy has the assurance that he/she will not suffer from the disclosure of personal information within the present procedure and is thus protected from retaliation by the Company and other staff members.
The reports must be stored for at least 5 years except the personal data which shall be deleted in according with the applicable personal data protection laws, or while any administrative or judicial process related to the report is pending, if any of these were initiated in the meantime.
10 Protection against retaliation
Whistleblowers shall be entitled to protection under this Policy from the time the information is provided if they have reasonable grounds to believe, on the basis of the factual circumstances and the information available to them, that the information they have provided is true and falls within the scope of this Policy.
The Whistleblower is protected from retaliation by the Company and other staff members. Retaliatory measures (such as the following) are legally invalid and may give rise to damages, especially:
- Suspension, termination or comparable measures
- Non-renewal or premature termination of a fixed-term employment contract
- Demotion or denial of a promotion
- Transfer of duties, change of place of work, reduction in pay, change in working hours
- Refusal to participate in further training measures
- Negative performance appraisal or issue of a poor reference
- Disciplinary action, reprimand or other sanction, including financial sanctions
- Intimidation, bullying, exclusion, discrimination, disadvantageous treatment
Protection against retaliation under this Policy shall also apply to:
- natural persons who assist Whistleblowers in providing information,
- natural persons in the vicinity of the Whistleblower who, without supporting the whistleblowing, may be affected by adverse consequences of the whistleblowing, such as retaliatory measures, and
- to legal persons wholly or partly owned by the Whistleblower or for whom the Whistleblower works or with whom he or she is otherwise associated in a professional capacity.
Whistleblowers shall not be liable for actual or legal consequences of a justified report.
There is no protection for obviously false information. The provision of knowingly false information may give rise to claims for damages and constitutes an administrative offense.
11 Personal data processed within the scope of the Whistleblowing System
The Whistleblowing System involves the processing of personal data, which is used to process and investigate reported misconduct. Personal data is confidentially and strictly handled in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, notably the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (FADP, 2023). If you need to know more about the data protection mechanism and about how personal data is processed for the purpose described herein, or if you wish to exercise your rights as data subject, please consult the compliance office, privacy officer or legal department.
12 Exceptions and Deviations
Any exceptions to or deviations from this Policy shall be approved by the Huawei Legal Department.
13 Owner and Interpreter
The department responsible for this file is Legal, which reserves the right to interpret and update this file.
14 Effective Date
This file takes effect as of 9th Sept 2025 and remains valid for 5 years.