On 9 November 2016, the Hampton-Alexander Review ("Review") published a report on improving the gender balance in the leadership of FTSE companies. The Review builds on the work of the Davies Review for Women on Boards, extending the scope to include FTSE 350 executive committees and direct reports to such executive committees.
The report provides a progress update on women on boards as at 1 October 2016; after five years of excellent progress and the FTSE 100 achieving its 25% target six months ahead of schedule in 2015, further progress has slowed in 2016.
The report contains a number of recommendations, including that:
- FTSE 350 companies should aim for a minimum of 33% women's representation on their boards by 2020. CEOs should have a clear plan of action to tackle underrepresentation, and the chair of the nominations committee should oversee progress.
- FTSE 350 companies should voluntarily publish details of the number of women on the executive committee and in the direct reports to the executive committee on an annual basis and submit this data to the Review.
- The Financial Reporting Council ("FRC") should amend the UK Corporate Governance Code to require FTSE 350 companies to disclose the gender balance on their executive committee and in direct reports to the executive committee in their annual report.
- Institutional investors should have a transparent process for evaluating the gender balance of FTSE 350 investee companies as well as a clear voting policy.
The report can be accessed here: http://ftsewomenleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Hampton-Alexander-2016.pdf
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