UK: Women in the City - Treasury Committee report published

The Treasury Committee has published its report Women in the City: see here (html) and here (pdf). Chapter two deals with women on boards. The Committee does not support law to require boards to have a minimum proportion of female directors but nevertheless endorses increased gender diversity. Specifically, the Committee states:

Concern about the under representation of women on boards can be about business performance as much as fairness. There is a consensus that an effective challenge function within a board is required in financial institutions, and that diversity on boards can promote such challenge. While it is impossible to know whether more female board members would have lessened the impact of the financial crisis, the arguments for fairness, improved corporate governance, a stronger challenge function and not wasting a large proportion of talent seem more than sufficient to conclude that increased gender diversity is desirable".