S&P Global – Most Calif. companies now in compliance with board gender diversity mandate

Nearly all California companies have complied with the state’s new mandate to have at least one female board member by the end of 2019. Out of more than 560 companies reviewed, only 21 had no women on their board as of mid-February 2020, compared with the 123 companies that had none around the same time a year earlier, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s board composition data.

“When the big investors start waiving the big sticks saying these are things they expect from companies, the directors are listening,” said Dayna Harris, a partner Farient Advisors LLC, a corporate governance and executive compensation consultancy. The directors are “the ones that are on the hot seat if they’re not being viewed as responsive to today’s expectations.”

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