The European Central Bank (ECB) has called for a push to increase gender diversity on bank boards, following disappointing progress in achieving diversity targets.
Of 361 CEO appointments made between 2020 and 2022 at banks directly supervised by the ECB, as well as at their subsidiaries, over 300 were men, while only 36% of board appointments were women.
The ECB argues diverse boards make better business decisions and that the disappointing figures reveal a need for faster improvement. Gender diversity considerations have been added to the ECB's Guide to fit and proper assessments, and management body effectiveness and diversity are part of its 2022-24 supervisory priorities. The ECB has also used its supervisory tools to address banks' diversity shortcomings.
At the European level, the Women on Boards Directive, which includes a target of at least 40% representation of each gender on corporate boards of publicly listed banks, has been formally adopted.
Published on May 9 2023 - Read the full article on ECB Europe
