Our compliance approach is based on a dedicated analysis of compliance risks. This means that we first identify potential triggers for rule violations and then align our compliance system to address these in the best possible way.

Based on national and international standards, we run through the three levels of prevent, detect and respond:

Prevent

We have implemented various measures to prevent violation of the rules. Our Code of Conduct provides a framework for all employees worldwide to make decisions and act according to uniform legal and ethical standards. We also expect this from our business partners. Our expectations have been made concrete in our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Our Code of Conduct is supplemented by our compliance policies. They incorporate legal requirements and ethical standards and are binding for all our employees.

Our Compliance Helpdesk provides advice to our employees and executives. We continuously promote compliance with regulations through training and communication. In this way, we keep a culture of compliance and integrity firmly embedded at IAV. We check the necessity and effectiveness of our preventive measures and control mechanisms as part of our regular compliance risk assessments. In doing so, we strive for continuous improvement.

Detect

Prevention should protect against liability. Breaches of rules and misconduct can entail considerable risks – for IAV but possibly also for our customers and business partners. With our SpeakUp system, we enable our employees and third parties to anonymously report a potential breach of rules or misconduct in numerous languages and 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

IAV’s management framework and control mechanisms – whether risk management, internal control system or internal audit – support the compliance organization in the mitigation of compliance risks via the risk and control measures implemented there.

Respond

If we receive indications of rule violations, we check them professionally and independently and take the necessary measures immediately. Any weaknesses discovered in the compliance program are closed. An appropriate root cause analysis leads to insights that help us as a company to evaluate and derive the right measures. In this way, we strengthen our management framework and control mechanisms at IAV and gain further insights for risk analysis.

Compliance activities at IAV cover both corporate compliance issues and technical compliance topics. Activities focus on

• the respect and upholding of human rights,
• non-discrimination,
• compliance with anti-corruption regulations and the avoidance of conflicts of interest,
• compliance with industrial property rights,
• the protection of corporate property,
• compliance with competition and antitrust laws,
• the protection of know-how,
• the maintenance of product safety and quality assurance,
• compliance with legal and regulatory requirements in research and development,
• the commitment to sustainability and environmental protection.

Compliance is a top priority at IAV. The Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) reports directly to our CEO. A team around a Compliance Officer (Corporate Compliance) and a Lead Coordinator tCompliance (Technical Compliance) support the CCO. Decentralized, worldwide contacts throughout the IAV Group ensure that advice is tailored to local needs.

The Code of Conduct is supplemented by internal compliance policies, processes and specifications.

Code of Conduct Englisch (PDF, 2 MB)

The  IAV Supplier Code of Conduct forms the basis for reliable cooperation with our business partners. It is based on our values and rules of conduct and demands compliance with responsible procurement principles and the application of the same social and legal standards as those we implement in our company.

To adhere to our IAV Supplier Code of Conduct is a mandatory prerequisite for a lasting positive business relationship with IAV. In addition, we expect our business partners to ensure that their suppliers and their associated companies also comply with the standards set out in the Supplier Code of Conduct.

Supplier Code of Conduct 

Our self-affirmation

With over 40 years of experience and the unchanging courage and will to make things happen, we combine the best of the worlds of the automotive industry, IT, hardware and software, as well as the product and service industry. Through our first-class technical equipment and the commitment of our highly specialized and motivated employees, we accompany our customers in the implementation of their projects - from the concept phase to series production.

Our goal is to sustainably improve the mobility of today and tomorrow.

For us and future generations, we want to contribute to improving the living conditions on our planet. As an internationally active company, we strive for sustainable growth based on responsible value creation. Respect for human rights and the well-being of our employees are essential values and are not negotiable for us.

In addition to our Code of Conduct and our Supplier Code of Conduct, which define our principles for compliant conduct, we are committed to respect for and respect for human rights and the protection of the environment and natural resources in this Declaration of Principles. This applies both to our own business activities and to our global supply and value chains.

Our actions are based on the following international standards:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations (UN),
• Ten principles of the UN Global Compact,
• Core labor standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Our approach to implementing due diligence to protect human rights and the environment 

This Declaration of Principles on Human Rights complements our Code of Conduct and our Supplier  Code of Conduct. Together, they form the basis for responsible and value-oriented action at IAV.  As a development partner for future technologies, integrity, fairness and independence are of paramount importance to us.

This is why the following human rights and environmental concerns are particularly important to us:

Working conditions

The people in our company are the key to our success. We create fair working conditions and ensure that they are respected. This includes, in particular, adequate remuneration, social benefits, adherence to working hours and the protection of the privacy of our employees.

Freedom of association

It is a matter of course for us that our employees take advantage of the opportunity to defend their interests through their elected employee representatives. The management and managers maintain an open and trusting cooperation and constructive dialog with employee representatives.

In particular, IAV GmbH, our largest company with its registered office in Germany, is a collective bargaining company and cooperates in a social partnership with IG Metall.

Health and safety at work

We protect the right of every employee to a safe and healthy working environment. To this end, we have defined standards and specifications in our Group-wide occupational health and safety policy. We prevent accidents at work, occupational diseases and occupational health risks by means of training courses as well as safety and occupational health measures (e.g. the safe handling of technical equipment).

Equal opportunities and respect

We promote respectful interaction with each other and openness to people from different countries and cultures. We distance ourselves from discrimination in all clarity, in particular on the basis of origin, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, skin color, Disability or religious beliefs. We offer everyone the same opportunities.

In addition, we are committed to tackling all forms of child labor, slavery and forced labor, both in our own business unit and in the value chain.

Environmental protection

As a service provider, we are committed to protecting the environment. In particular, the careful, efficient and as waste-free as possible use of resources and the avoidance of unnecessary environmental pollution are the focus of our efforts. In doing so, we aim to reduce CO2 emissions and other climate-damaging gases in compliance with SBTi, use renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, identify resource savings, minimize hazardous substances and prevent or recycle waste.

Our risk management

The management is responsible for respecting human rights and environmental concerns in our business activities and supply chains. Within the IAV Group, we have therefore defined clear responsibilities, particularly in the areas of compliance, sustainability and procurement, in order to comply with, coordinate and monitor the effectiveness of all human rights and environmental due diligence obligations. The management is supported by the Human Rights Commissioner of the IAV. This informs the management at regular intervals about the current status.

Risk analysis and effectiveness control

We check and evaluate our suppliers for specific risks on an annual basis, without any reason, according to product and country groups as well as our own business unit. If there are appropriate indications of possible injuries or changed circumstances, the risk analysis will be carried out again on a case-by-case basis.

As an international development service provider, we have not identified any increased risks. There were no increased risks of violation of human rights or environmental concerns in the procurement of consumer goods. At least once a year, and where necessary, the effectiveness of all processes to comply with our due diligence to protect human rights and the environment will also be reviewed to identify, prevent, eliminate or mitigate adverse effects.

Preventive measures

We have systematically integrated the assessment of human rights and environmental risks into our relevant decision-making processes, particularly in procurement. The selection of our prevention measures is based on country criteria and industry affiliation. In addition, we distinguish whether the services delivered are incorporated into our own products or development services. Our prevention measures include the following elements:

• Contractual inclusion of compliance clauses
• Requirement to maintain a code of conduct of its own or to recognize the IAV Code of Conduct for business partners
• Audit rights and certification obligations

Complaint procedures and remedial measures

In the event of suspicious cases or complaints, especially in relation to possible violations of human rights, our employees, business partners and other stakeholders have different channels at their disposal. These can be found on our website and in our IAV Intranet. Whistleblowers can report their information to Compliance via our whistleblower system SpeakUp or directly to our employees by telephone, via e-mail or in writing.

This ensures that everyone, regardless of their contractual or business relationship with IAV, can communicate their concerns to us. All notices will be kept confidential and tracked.

If the investigation reveals that IAV has caused or contributed directly or indirectly to a violation, we will immediately take all necessary measures to remedy it.

If we become aware of any such violation with one of our business partners, we will request that the business partner take immediate action and terminate the violation. This will be followed up by IAV accordingly.

If necessary, we support our partners in dealing with such a violation, and at the same time we reserve the right to terminate the business relationship with immediate effect in the event of serious human rights violations.

We provide annual information on our website about the activities to respect and promote human rights.

Our expectations for employees and business partners

Respect for human rights is the basis for responsible cooperation for IAV. We treat all people with respect and fairness and demand such an attitude from business partners as well.

We therefore expect our business partners to have structures in place to prevent human rights violations and to remedy them immediately in the event of violations. In this sense, they should also influence their own business partners along the value chain.

Berlin, October 2024

Jörg Astalosch
CEO

Martin Mahlke
CFO

Jens Pfitzinger
CHRO

Jörn Klenner
Overall Chairman of the General Works Council

Jens Hinze
Vice-Chairman of the General Works Council

IAV Compliance Reporting Channels

We trust our employees and business partners. At the same time, we are aware that there may be isolated situations in which applicable law is violated, resulting in significant risks – for IAV, but possibly also for our business partners. We therefore appreciate every report that is made to the best of our knowledge and belief and helps us to clarify and – as far as possible – remedy material legal violations.

Responsible body

Our investigation team at IAV – which is part of the Compliance Organization – is specifically trained for handing incoming reports, communicating with reporting persons and conducting internal investigations. The team assesses incoming reports impartially, observes the highest standards of confidentiality and acts fully independent in their decision-making process. The team reports directly to the Chief Compliance Officer.

Reporting channels

All contact details can be found via the link below.

The following reporting channels are available to you:

• Electronic „SpeakUp“ Portal (both in writing and by telephone)
• E-Mail
• In-Person meeting

To arrange for an in-person meeting, please contact us directly.

Note: If you use the “SpeakUp” portal  anonymously, please carefully write down the “case number” assigned to you by the system. Otherwise, we have no means to contact you in case of further questions due to your anonymity.

Scope of application of the whistleblower system

The above-mentioned reporting channels are primarily available in the event of (serious) breaches of the law in the following areas:

• Economic, corruption and tax offenses,
• Environmental crimes,
• Human rights violations,
• Antitrust infringements,
• Money laundering and terrorist financing offenses,
• Breaches of product safety regulations that may result in a violation of legal interests,
• Violations of approval regulations,
• Violations of data protection law.
   

Course of the procedure

You will receive a confirmation of receipt within seven days of submitting your notification, unless you have submitted your notification in a personal meeting on site. In order to gain a better understanding of the facts, it may be necessary us to contact you in order to provide any queries or to request further documentation.

The processing of incoming information shall always take place within a reasonable period.

You will generally be informed within three months of the result of the clarification of the facts and the remedial measures required in each individual case. In exceptional cases, it may take longer for particularly complex matters. We will of course also inform you of this within three months of receiving your report and let you know when you can expect the investigation and processing of the matter to be completed.

If your concern is not (sufficiently) related to IAV or it is not in scope of our responsibilities, we will advise you on finding an alternative way to help you to address it.

Whistleblower protection

Whistleblowers are comprehensively protected against reprisals. If, despite the preventive measures taken, discrimination occurs in individual cases as a result of a report, the persons responsible for the discrimination will be sanctioned in accordance with the statutory provisions. However, whistleblower protection can be restricted if whistleblowers knowingly and willfully provide false information. In this case, possible claims for damages against whistleblowers may also be considered.

Confidentiality

IAV treats all information and details provided confidentially. In particular, care is taken to ensure that no conclusions can be drawn about your identity when clarifying the facts.

If it is necessary to disclose your identity to other bodies in order to clarify the facts, the Compliance Organization will obtain your consent in advance in accordance with the statutory requirements.

Our answer to risks in the development process is our Technical Compliance. By specifically demanding compliance-relevant work steps at certain points in the course of a project, we contribute to maximum transparency and compliance with regulations.

To support this, IAV has a network of experts across all our technical divisions who are available to executives and employees to answer questions on technical compliance. The network consists of employees from various specialist areas. This ensures that our technical units receive optimum advice and support.

Our technical compliance experts are particularly active in the following areas:

• Product safety
• Quality assurance
• Research and development
• Sustainability and environmental protection

In the case of complex issues, our employees can involve additional expert boards via a defined escalation process. In this way, we ensure that all relevant criteria are considered in an interdisciplinary manner when making decisions – even when we are breaking new technological ground together with our customers and no or no explicit legal regulations exist.

With our Technical Compliance we offer customers the assurance that all our services comply with laws and regulations.

Sustainability Report 2023

DICO German Institute for Compliance

http://www.dico-ev.com/

BCM Professional Association of Compliance Managers

https://www.bvdcm.de/

We have revised our internal guidelines for handling gifts and invitations and ask our customers and partners to refrain from sending gifts to our employees. This applies in particular to gifts as part of business transactions or on personal occasions or religious or national holidays such as Christmas and New Year.

We also do not want gifts to be sent to private addresses and appreciate it very much when our customers and partners ensure that our employees do not have the embarrassment of having to refuse, reject or return gifts.

This is another important step for us in strengthening and safeguarding our compliance claim. For us, good business relationships are based on mutual trust and respect and do not require gifts.

We thank our business partners for their understanding.