10.3.3 Diversity

All three countries have diversity requirements in their corporate governance codes. The UKCGC is currently rather brief, but will be amended in this field as from 1 October 2012. The amendment requires having a clear diversity policy, which should be reported in the annual report. Plans to implement that policy and the progress made must be published in the annual report as well. The SCCG uses a comparable approach, but adds that an equal gender distribution on the board should be strived for. Such a goal is not part of the amendment of the UKCGC. The DCGC does not give a target, but requires the specification of diversity objectives. If these objectives are not achieved, the company must make an estimation of the time needed to achieve that objective. Furthermore, the Dutch Civil Code requires that companies that fall within the ambit of the structure regime should have at least thirty per cent men and thirty per cent women on their (supervisory) boards. No legal sanctions exist for not applying this section of the Civil Code, but non-compliance must be explained in the annual report.

(Consideration 10.5) Requirements regarding board diversity are important in order to have a robust composition/structure building block. By requiring diversity targets, the current status quo is broken through and companies are forced to focus on this element of board composition. The situation in the Netherlands and Sweden might therefore be an example for the United Kingdom. However, the fact that the requirements in the Netherlands are confined to structure regime companies is a missed opportunity.