New demand in the UK: 40 per cent of the group should be women Realtid.se

The Financial Conduct Commission (FCA) requires a woman to hold at least one senior position as chairperson, CEO or CFO, and at least one board member must have a white ethnic minority background. This was reported by Reuters.

The proposals are based on voluntary initiatives to increase diversity, but also force companies to do more. The UK’s 350 largest listed companies have largely reached 33 per cent women on their boards, but by 2021 the target for the 100 largest companies listed in London will have fallen short of having at least one non-white.

The proposals are expected to come into effect by the end of 2021 after a public consultation and will affect 1,106 companies, which should achieve the targets or explain to shareholders why they failed in their annual report.

The Swedish Competition Commission says it can ensure that reporting and objectives are extended in the future to other aspects of diversity such as sexual orientation and disability and low socio-economic background.

The FCA also proposes that a large number of listed companies publish greater amounts of diversity and inclusion data in a standardized format.

Diversity targets with shares in premium or fixed listing categories on the London Stock Exchange apply to British and foreign companies.