According to a report published on February 3, 2020 by the EBA, many institutions have still not adopted a diversity policy. The EU's independent authority calls on these players, as well as member states, to consider new measures to promote more balanced gender representation.
Women still under-represented on management teams
The EBA study shows that over 41% of the institutions surveyed have not implemented a diversity policy. Although there has been some improvement in the representation of women in supervisory functions, it only reached 15% in 2018, compared with 13.6% in 2015. In supervisory functions, this share stands at 24%, compared with almost 19% in 2015. The European Banking Authority adds that not all establishments that have adopted a policy to promote diversity have set "targets vis-à-vis the under-represented gender".
Another study carried out by the Skema Observatory on the feminization of companies indicates that between 2008 and 2018, the presence of women in the management teams of the European banks observed increased by more than 95% on boards of directors and 268% on executive committees. However, behind these figures lies a more nuanced reality. Indeed, the Observatory notes that while the number of women has doubled on boards of directors, they account for only 20% of executive committee members.
In 2008, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole were among the worst performers in France. Ten years on, their boards are now among those with the highest proportion of women members, a development that can be linked to the entry into force in 2011 of the "Copé-Zimmermann" law, which sets a 40% quota for women on boards of directors. However, the Observatoire has not observed any feminization of their executive committees.
Better decision-making on strategy and risk-taking
According to the European Banking Authority, diversity within management bodies can help improve decision-making on strategy and risk-taking. The theme of diversity is not limited to gender, however, but also covers age, academic background, profession and geographical origin.
A recent study by S&P Global Markets Intelligence confirms this analysis, pointing out that companies with female CFOs perform better than others. In the 24 months following the appointment of a female CFO, the companies surveyed saw their profitability rise by 6.2% compared with those where a man held the position.
So, despite a slight improvement in the representation of women on management bodies in the financial sector, there is still room for improvement.