Sector News

Company directors face penalties for not having women on board – SEBI

April 9, 2015
Diversity & Inclusion
(Reuters) – India will consider taking action against directors of companies that do not comply by October with a new rule requiring at least one woman to be on their board, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said on Wednesday.
 
SEBI had last year imposed a quota of one female director on the board of every listed firm. The deadline for compliance expired at the end of last month, after already being extended once last year.
 
The new rule also requires a third of boards to comprise independent directors, who are not related to the promoters or founders of the company.
 
The regulator said companies that do not comply by June 30 will be fined 50,000 rupees with an additional penalty falling due for every day of non compliance thereafter.
 
According to data combined by Prime Database, almost one third of companies listed on the National Stock Exchange still have no women directors on their board.
 
Directors and promoters of companies that still fail to comply with the new rule after September 30 can face additional penalties, the regulator said, without specifying what the punishment will be.
 
(Reporting by Himank Sharma; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
 

comments closed

Related News

April 14, 2024

How to manage your non-inclusive manager

Diversity & Inclusion

At a recent training I was facilitating, I invited people to ask me anything anonymously using polling technology. While the questions always give me great insight into where people are struggling with issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), this question seemed more universal: “What do I do if my manager is not inclusive?”

April 7, 2024

Men are seen as experts more often than their women counterparts — and it’s time to break those gender biases.

Diversity & Inclusion

Our society’s tendency to look to men for expertise is one of the things that holds women back in our careers. But we can all help give women’s knowledge and accomplishments greater visibility, which will cause people of all genders to view women as experts and turn to women for expertise more.

March 30, 2024

It’s time to highlight the business opportunity of DEI initiatives

Diversity & Inclusion

Right now, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are under growing scrutiny. Some companies are pulling back from DEI initiatives amid nervousness around shareholder activism and possible investor or customer pushback. Highlighting the benefits of DEI to an organization’s performance and the wellbeing of employees is the best way to address this negativity.

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach