15 April 2013. ThyssenKrupp is a leading steel maker for the rail and motor industry. It is facing a series of corruption allegations, including the price fixing cartel, luxury trips to journalists and alleged bribery in contracts in Eastern Europe and China. Last month, the group’s supervisory board Chief Gerhard Cromme quit over his handling of the corruption allegations and his failure to clean up the company’s image.
The company has announced a whistle-blower program to clean up its tarnished image. It has introduced an amnesty program which guarantees that workers would be free from punishments if the workers help by notifying the company of infringements and compliance violations. They will also be given guarantee of non-termination from employment. ThyssenKrupp said that the amnesty will not apply to board members of executive units, heads of departments and other directors.
The amnesty is valid till 15 June 2013 and will be restricted to non-time-barred compliance matters.
Last year, ThyssenKrupp was fined EUR 103 million by the German cartel office for its involvement in the rail and steel cartel. Germany’s national rail incumbent Deutsche Bahn has filed damage claims against ThyssenKrupp.
