They are still underrepresented in senior management positions
Women are still under-represented in senior management positions in European banks, according to a report published today, which highlighted that nine banks had no women in their top management team.
Just 23% of senior managers positions in European banks to be held by women in 2022, according to the DBRS Morningstar report, led by Charlotte Cervin and Elizabeth Rudman. This percentage shows little to no improvement in the last two years.
Just four of the 62 banks in the report had a female CEO in 2022. Although there has been a greater push for more female participation in companies and some countries have introduced quotas for women on company boards, it is still rare to see equality between of both sexes at the highest levels in Europe's financial services industry.
Deutsche Bank has been in the spotlight this year as it tries to retain female talent following the departures of board member Christiana Reilly and Asian retail banking head Jin Yi Yang.
Only 14 banks in the study sample had 30% or more women in their senior management team.
Women filled 38% of board seats in 2022 across all banks, a slight improvement from 36% a year earlier. The European Union last year set a target for women to hold at least 33% of all directorships on boards by June 2026, with penalties to be imposed by individual member states for non-compliance.
“One of the main arguments in favor of gender quotas on company boards is that a higher proportion of women on boards should attract more female talent to the company and increase the presence of women at all levels of management and in the workforce.” , the report states.
“Based on our analysis, we found a positive correlation between female representation on the board and at the executive level, suggesting that a higher percentage of women on a board has a positive impact on the number of women in executive roles.”
In Spain, three of the biggest banks have women in their top positions, including Ana Botin, president of Banco Santander, and Maria Dolores Dancusa, CEO of Bankinter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria also appointed Luisa Gómez Bravo as its new chief financial officer earlier this year.
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