Antonella Baccaro (photo by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert).
L‘Italy, with 47 per cent of women on the boards of directors of listed companies operating in the financial sectoris the first country in Europe for female representation in this type of board.
Followed by France (44 percent), UK (39 percent), Spain (38 percent), Switzerland (28 percent). Closes the ranking Germany, with 25 percent. The data comes from the EY European Financial Services Boardroom Monitor, conducted between February and May 2022.
Two levers identified by the report to explain a record to be finally proud of: the Gulf-Moscow law, which imposed “gender quotas” on the boards of listed companies, but also the regulatory thrust of the Bank of Italy.
Which continues, given that, last July, the governor Ignazio Visco signed the Charter for equality, diversity and inclusion presented by the European Central Bankwhich commits the signatory institutions to accelerate their efforts to promote a work environment based on respect and dignity, ensuring the absence of any kind of discrimination in the workplace.
The importance of introducing tools that encourage the presence of women in areas where this is historically limited is testified by what happens where such rules do not exist.
This is demonstrated there‘Italian Financial Industry 2022 Deloitte DE&I Maturity Index, a research developed by Deloitte in collaboration with the University of Milan to measure the level of maturity of companies operating in financial services, asset managers and insurance companies in our country.
Well, in the financial sector companies that participated in the survey, less than 20 per cent of top positions are entrusted to women. The percentage rises to 30 per cent for middle management positions. In this sense, the insurance sector is the one with the most women in top positions.
The two realities that we have illustrated so far clash. Of the two, one: are the women in the board of directors of listed companies to take advantage of the “gender quotas”, even if they do not have the skills, or are the companies in the financial sector that do not have the courage to promote those who have the skills?
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