The rule, which requires the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, requires companies to have at least two different directors, including a woman and a member of an “underspended” minority group, including black people, Latino or members. LGBTQ + community. Small companies and foreign companies in the exchange can follow two women directors.
Companies will also have to disclose “consistent, transparent diversity statistics” about their boards. Assuming they are valid, the rules will require at least one diversified director in two years and two in four to five years depending on the size of the company. If the company does not comply, its shares may be listed on the exchange.
“The goal of Nasdaq is to make growth and prosperity a part of a strong economy,” said Adena Friedman, CEO of Nasdaq. The Nasdaq proposal presents an analysis of more than two dozen studies that have found a link between different boards and better financial performance and corporate governance.
The exchange joins a growing group of voices pushing for more variety in the boardroom. In September, California Governor Gavin Newsme signed a law requiring at least one minority member on the boards of all California-based publicly traded companies. And in January, Goldam Sachs (G.S.) He will not take the company in public unless he has at least one diversified board member.
Many large public companies already comply with the minimum requirements of the Nasdaq rule. In fact, four of the five largest companies on the exchange in terms of market value – Apple (AAPL), Micro .ft (MSFT), Google owner Alphabet (Google) And Facebook (FB) – There are boards on which the straight white male is in the minority.
Two more companies in the top ten – Com Com (CMCASA) And Adobe (ADBE) – Women or minorities make up their half board. And the third largest company, Amazon (AMZN), Has five women on its 11-member board, two of whom belong to a minority group.
A Nasdaq spokesman said he believed at least 85% of its 3,249 listed companies met the first criteria of the regime, which included having a woman or representing a minority on their board.
But boards are still the gution of white male power in corporate America. A study conducted in September by ISS ESG, the responsible investor in institutional shareholder services, found that only 16.8% of the 33,000 directors in large cap companies are from the minority group, and only 27.4% are women. And 55, or 11%, of the 496 large-cap companies measured by the ISS ESG, do not have a diverse director.
But there are critics of the pressure to bring even minimal diversity to the board. The Rs.
“The California government has pictures for quotas that are shamelessly unconstitutional,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.
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