Banking World’s ‘Old Boys’ Network’ Put on Notice in Europe

April 21, 2022

“You cannot just appoint your peers or your old boys network,” Hedegaard said in an interview. “The process is getting professionalized.”

—Connie Hedegaard, a former European Union climate commissioner

The gist:

According to new Bloomberg data, women’s “directorships at Europe’s Stoxx 600 companies,” now stands at 37.3%, compared to the S+P 500’s 31% of equivalent positions held by women.

It’s the latest sign that regions in which gender quotas are common tend to make more progress than those in which markets are left to their own devices. It also suggests that the male cliques that once dominated the upper echelons of banking will gradually unravel.

—Connie Hedegaard, a former European Union climate commissioner who last month joined the board of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA.

Boardroom gender quotas

“Germany, France and Italy -- Europe’s biggest economies -- have now all imposed some form of boardroom gender quota.”

In the U.K., “the Financial Conduct Authority has set listed companies three diversity targets, including a goal for at least 40% women on their boards, in an effort to bolster diversity in the upper ranks of British business.”

“The case for increasing women’s representation on boards and in senior leadership is well known, it’s now time to build on the advances, remove barriers to progression and drive further change.”

—Penny James, co-chair of the FTSE Women Leaders Review

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