Pink’ quotas in Boards of Directors begin to take effect
Keystone-SDA
The effects of 2021 Swiss legislation to accelerate more women onto company boards are beginning to be felt.
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Only five of the 30 largest companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange are yet yet to meet the 30% quota of women on their boards of directors.
Since the new rules have been in force, the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of companies represented in the Swiss Leader Index (SLI) has increased significantly, according to an analysis by the economic agency AWP.
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While in 2021 only eight of the current companies in the SLI complied with the requirements, there are now 25 taking into account the board shuffles already announced for this year.
Looking at the entire period, as many as 29 of the 30 companies have reached the benchmark at least once. In four companies, however, the proportion of women has meanwhile fallen below the threshold again due to new appointments.
Only one female chair
Only the logistics group Kühne+Nagel has never reached the statutory benchmark: currently only two of the seven board members are women.
However, there are numerous companies in the SLI that far exceed the 30% threshold. In more than one third of firms, the proportion of women exceeds 40%.
In the board of directors of flavours and fragrances manufacturer Givaudan, women and men are in parity. In SGS and Straumann, only one woman is missing to achieve gender parity.
Straumann is also the only company in the SLI to have a female chairman of the board. Petra Rumpf took over the position last spring, having first been elected to the supervisory board three years ago.
There has also been a significant increase in the number of women in senior management positions at the technology group ABB. In 2020, the ratio of women to men was still two to nine, while women currently occupy four of the ten seats in the boardroom.
The Amrize and Swiss Life groups, with a 27% share of women, fall just short of the required threshold. Other SLI companies, on the other hand, such as insurer Helvetia Baloise, only three women sit on its 13-member strategic body.
Management teams
Yet both Helvetia and Baloise had already achieved the 30% benchmark in the past. In the newly formed board of directors of the merged company, however, this threshold is not reached. It is a similar situation for Julius Bär bank.
Failure to reach the reference value has no consequences. According to the rules adopted by parliament, there is only a duty to state reasons. In other words: listed companies must explain in their annual report why they have not reached the minimum share of 30% in the boardroom and what measures they intend to take to remedy this situation.
The law provides for a gender equality target not only for boards of directors, but also for management teams. However, this requirement will only come into force in 2031.
As a result, not many companies reach the required threshold yet. In only 18 of the 30 groups in the SLI does the proportion of women at the highest operational level exceed the required 20%.
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Women make up 35% of Swiss boards of directors
Adapted from Italian by AI/mga
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