New best-practice guidance on board diversity has been published by the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). The new guidance is designed to recognise that a range of social and economic factors contribute to a fully diverse board beyond gender diversity.
It calls for companies to develop board diversity objectives and for shareholders to hold boards accountable and encourage diversity with their own board nominees.
Nomination committees, the guidance says, should, when identifying candidates to recommend for board appointment/election, consider diversity criteria; engage independent external advisers to search for candidates that meet the board’s skills and diversity criteria; and aim to have at least one-third of the board made up of one gender.
The UK Parker Review Committee, meanwhile, has published a consultation into the ethnic diversity of UK boards, with recommendations to increase the number of BME (black and minority ethnic) representatives on British boards.
It calls for each FTSE 100 board to have at least one BME director by 2021, and each FTSE 250 board to have at least one BME director by 2024.
Related Posts
-
March 15, 2023
This year’s report shows that, although significant progress has been made, many companies have increased diversity through NED appointments.
-
October 4, 2021
The recruitment of black directors and the discussion of diversity in company documents both increased following the death of George Floyd.
-
September 27, 2022
US academics point out that the proposed new requirements relate only to reporting and disclosure, not quotas.
-
June 17, 2022
Divestment may not drive renewables shift; US boards get bigger; call for transparency on lobbying; how famine affects board decisions.
