Banks fail at parity: the presence of women on boards of directors does not reach 50%

The boards of directors of the five largest banks Spanish people, Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell and Bankinterare composed mainly of men and, although the presence of women in them has increased in the last five years, they barely reach 40%according to the report EY European Financial Services Boardroom Monitor.

The greater presence of men among 71 advisors that the five large Spanish banks currently have is due, in large part, to the fact that in the New additions most are men. Thus, in 2023, two out of every three new councilors were men. If the last two years are taken into account, five of the eight new appointments were directors.

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The report prepared by EY analyzes 84 European financial entities and aims to trace the profile, experience and qualifications of the members of the index’s boards of directors. MSCI European Financialsto observe how they are updated and adapted to the demands of investors.

Spain is not much different from what happens in other European countries in that men are also the majority on the boards of banks, with a percentage of 57% male and 43% female.

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Of these, 31% of banks have less than 40% female representation on their board, a level that is below that required for June 2026, when will the Directive 2022/2381/EU on gender balance on company boards of directors, which requires all companies in EU member countries to achieve a target of representation 40% female for non-executive boards or 33% for all council members.

“Despite the complexity that the composition of this organism and the difficulty finding profiles that include all the necessary skills and experience, this cannot imply gender imbalance,” he says. Pedro Pérez Iruel, partner responsible for EY Financial Services in Spain.

In her opinion, “40% female representation on boards of directors It is a minimum on which to build, not a goal to achieve.” In his opinion, diversity within the boards of directors “drives improved results”.

In addition to their numerical difference, another factor that differentiates bank directors is the average time they stay in their positions. According to the report, the women They maintained their position for an average of 73 months during last year, less than the 75.3 months of the previous year. While men averaged 87 months in their positionsan increase compared to 85.6 months in 2022

Regarding their average age, the directors are around 65.9 years old, are greater that the advisors, what on average they have 60.3 years. These figures mark an increase compared to 2022, when the average age of men was 64.4 years and that of women was 58.6 years.

Another aspect that differentiates them is their knowledge and experience about sustainability. The study has detected a “moderate” growth in terms of the inclusion of counselors with experience in this field. Thus, throughout 2023 the percentage of board members who own ESG competencies reached the 11.3%which represents a slight increase compared to the 10% registered in 2022.

While the women have greater skills about it and represent the 62.5% of counselors with this type of capabilities. The number of directors with senior management experience also increased in 2023, rising 2% throughout 2023 and reaching 57.7%.

The presence of women on the boards of directors of large Spanish banks is higher than the average of the IBEX 35 listed companiesaccording to the latest data from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

The supervisor indicates that at the end of 2022, the presence of women on the boards of the listed companies stood at 31.87% of the total, -compared to 40% in the banking sector- more than two points higher than in the previous year, with this, according to CNMV sources, “a progressive increase in the number of female directors is observed for yet another year and for the first time there is a break the 30% barrier in our country.”