Expanded and unified reporting needed to progress board diversity

Institutional investors in Canada, the U.S. and around the world are making it clear that diversity on the boards of corporations must be more diverse.

As reported by the Canadian Lawyer, partner and co-head of the firm’s Capital Markets practice Rima Ramchandani participated in the Ontario Securities Commission’s virtual roundtable on October 13 that focused on diversity in capital markets.

She told participants, “I share some of the frustration that people have in terms of the pace of progress feeling slower than what people would like.”

“But our rules are pretty narrow in scope right now. Not only are they narrow in that they only focus on women, but they also focus on a very small group of individuals, directors and executive officers, the most senior level of the management team,” Rima said.

Rima suggested that the industry consider tracking demographic data that goes beyond just the representation of women on boards and management teams, addressing the information that investors are saying are important to them.

“There is clear value in creating greater transparency and uniformity in the reporting of critical information,” she said.

You can read more about our Board Advisory and Governance work on our practice page.

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