Rules will highlight gender makeup of boards and management

New securities rules for disclosing the number of women on boards and in management have been finalized and are expected to take effect on Dec. 31, say Canadian Securities Administrators.

Nine provinces and territories have signed on to amendments to National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices and Form 58-101F1 Corporate Governance Disclosure. They are Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan.

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Regulators hope to make the make up of boards and management more transparent for investors and other stakeholders. This transparency is intended to assist investors in making investment and voting decisions and will apply to all non-venture issuers reporting in the participating jurisdictions.

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Once in effect, the final amendment will require non-venture issuers to provide annual disclosure regarding the following items in their proxy circular or annual information form:

• director term limits and other mechanisms of renewal of the board;
• policies regarding the representation of women on the board;
• the board’s or nominating committee’s consideration of the representation of women in the director identification and selection process;
• the issuer’s consideration of the representation of women in executive officer positions when making executive officer appointments;
• targets regarding the representation of women on the board and in executive officer positions; and
• the number of women on the board and in executive officer positions.

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