While there has been more debate about achieving more diversity on company boards, the Global Board of Directors survey 2016 has found that despite the intense investor and media scrutiny – public company directors are no more diverse that the private companies whose directors participated in the survey. Traditional recruitment strategies holding back diversity The survey found that on average, 18% of […]
Read MoreThe House of Commons’ Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) Committee has launched an inquiry on corporate governance, focussing on executive pay, directors duties, and the composition of boardrooms, including worker representation and gender balance in executive positions. This follows the committee’s inquiries into the corporate collapse of retailer, BHS, and the working practices at Sports Direct […]
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After the initial push to increase board diversity over the past five years, progress appears to have slowed according to two reports published by the UK government and Cranfield School of Management. The UK government has therefore launched a review focusing on increasing female representation to 33% of boards across the FTSE 350 by 2020. This target was […]
Read MoreAligning board talent with a company’s long-term strategy is a critical challenge for three-quarters of corporate directors according to a global survey by KPMG’s Board Leadership Center. The advisory firm surveyed more than 2,300 directors and senior executives across 46 countries and found that three in five want more diversity and viewpoints on the board. KPMG said that getting board […]
Read MoreBig challenges remain if the financial sector is to make last changes to improve the diversity of their executives following the UK’s Gadhia Review and the launch of the government’s Women in Finance Charter, according to the think tank, New Financial. The UK government commissioned Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, to lead a review of […]
Read MoreUS investors passed the first shareholder resolution in a decade at ExxonMobil when they voted to back the proxy access resolution at its recent AGM. The non-binding resolution called for the oil company to give investors that have jointly held at least 3% of its common stock for at least three years the ability to nominate directors using […]
Read MoreAchieving greater board diversity to improve company performance was the most pressing concern of respondents to the UK’s Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) succession planning consultation. The FRC’s feedback statement on the consultation found that respondents believed that boards as a whole should be better informed about the link between diversity, strategy and business value. Diversity should be considered […]
Read MoreA study of European companies, Realizing Europe’s Potential: Progress and Challenges, for the EU-backed European Women on Boards (EWoB) network has shown a steady rise in the number of women on their boards following the imposition of quotas in some markets. However, there is a concern across Europe that many of these appointments are at the non-executive director or supervisory […]
Read MorePersimmon seeks to blame proxy advisors for NED’s slim majority Construction firm, Persimmon, faced significant opposition in the vote to elect Nigel Mills as one their non-executive directors. There was a 47% vote against Mills’ appointment, due to independence concerns, at the company’s AGM last week, one of the slimmest margins for a director appointment for some […]
Read MoreUK companies continue to use personal networks when recruiting board members, which acts as a barrier to women becoming directors, according to an inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The study found that while the overall target set by the Davies review of 25% of FTSE 100 board members being women has been achieved this masks the […]
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