The Central Bank of has said financial firms must accelerate their diversity efforts, after reporting that the ratio of women being put forward for top roles across banks, insurers and fund managers has almost doubled to 31 per cent over the past decade.
The regulator’s sixth annual Demographic Analysis Report, published on Tuesday, said that almost one in three of the 3,500 candidates put forward by firms last year for its approval were women, compared to one in six in 2012.
So-called pre-approval control function roles range from top executives and non-executives of regulated firms to heads of client asset oversight in investment houses.
Representation
Still, female representation at board level across financial firms only increased to 28 per cent from 22 per cent over the period, driven by improvements in the asset management and credit union sector, it said.
Male applicants still continue to dominate “revenue generating” roles. In 2021, less than one-sixth of applicants of incumbent role holders responsible for driving business revenue were female. Men accounted for 84 per cent of approval applications for these types of roles last year, the report said.
"Whilst it is encouraging to see progress, it has been incremental over a decade, and firms simply must speed up," said Derville Rowland, director general for financial conduct at the Central Bank, adding that the regulator sees a lack of diversity as a "leading indicator of heightened behaviour and culture risks".
“Diversity extends beyond gender. Diversity, including age, ethnicity, educational and professional background, amongst other characteristics, is critical to developing an effective culture,” she said.
“Higher levels of diversity of thought can mitigate the risk of group-think, improve decision making, and increase the effectiveness of internal challenge and openness to change within firms. This is vital in terms of firms acting in the best interests of consumers and investors.”
In 2018, Bank of Ireland set what were the most ambitious gender-equality targets in the banking sector at the time, targeting a 50:50 ratio in all new management and leadership appointments by the end of 2021. At the time just 36 per cent of such appointments were women.
Objective
The bank missed the objective, with woman making up 45 per cent of senior appointments in 2021, although the ratio had improved to 49 per cent by the fourth quarter of the year, according to its latest annual report.
Women accounted for 42 per cent of all management positions at AIB last year. Six of the group's 11 members of its key executive committee are now women.
The European Institute for Gender Equality sees gender equality in a decision-making body as one where either the ratio of either women or men members does not fall below 40 per cent.
Permanent TSB has a target of achieving gender balance at senior leadership level by 2025. Women account for 36 per cent of such positions, according to its 2021 annual report.
