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pub_date:A new provision in corporate governance code looks promisingLIKE Singapore, corporate Hong Kong needs to do more to address the gender imbalance in boardrooms.儲存倉 But unlike the city-state, the latter territory has gone a step further by requiring all companies listed in Hong Kong to report on their diversity policy and supply considered reasons should they not conform.Concern over the lack of diversity which it views encompasses more than gender and age, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) has taken a proactive step in stirring up the mix. Under the stock exchange's "comply or explain" Corporate Governance Code provision which came into effect on Sept 1, listed companies are expected to implement policies to encourage more women, men aged 40 or younger and people of wider professional experience to join their boards.While the Code does not specifically highlight gender diversity, the representation of women on boards is clearly a tangible measure by which companies can assess to what extent they are including a diversity of perspectives on their boards, said Community Business, a Hong Kong-based non-profit organisation focusing on corporate responsibility and a thought leader on diversity and inclusion in Asia.In its report, "Standard Chartered Bank Women on Boards: Hang Seng Index 2013", its researchers found only "nominal progress" in female representation on the boards of HSI-listed companies: 9.4 per cent in 2013, up from 9 per cent in 2012 and 8.9 per cent in 2009. Four out of 10 listed companies have no women on their boards at all.While Hong Kong performs below the global average of 11.1 per cent in developed countries, it fares better than mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Japan.Marginal increaseA recent joint study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School's Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations (CGIO) and BoardAgender, an entity that seeks to advance more women into senior leadership roles and the boardroom, shows that only 7.9 per cent of all board directors in Singapore-listed companies were women last year.This is up marginally from 7.3 per cent the year before and 6.9 per cent in 2010. All-male boards remained high at 58.2 per cent.Looking at the 77 new directorships on the boards of companies on the HSI in 2012, just nine (11.7 per cent) were women. In comparison, in economies such as Australia and the UK, the proportion of new board appointments that are female is 30-40 per cent."Hong Kong clearly has some way to go in achieving greater gender diversity in its boardrooms. Indeed, if we assume that the total number of directors remains the same at 649, at the current rate of just four additional female directorships each year, it will take approximately 49 years to secure 30 per cent representation of women on boards and 81 years to reach parity," said Community Business CEO Fern Ngai.The study, which looks at the representation of women on the boards of companies included in the 50 HSI constituent as at Feb 4, showed the top five companies are Ch迷你倉最平na Construction Bank Corporation with four of its 12 board members (33.3 per cent) being women, followed by Hang Seng Bank (31.3 per cent), Bank of China (26.7 per cent), and HSBC Holdings Plc (25 per cent).The report also showed the number of female executive directors since 2009 remains static at 15 women. Fifty-three women hold 61 directorships on the HSI. This means six women hold more than one directorship.The average age of male directors in Hong Kong is 60.2 years and the age range is wide, varying from as young as 29 years to as old as 90 years, with 31.3 per cent of male directors aged 65 or over. The average age of female directors is 57.7 years and the age range is narrower from 33 to 75 years, with a much lower percentage of 18 per cent of women directors aged 65 or over.Hutchison Whampoa Ltd is the company with the oldest board members, with the average age of its directors being 68.9 years.Earlier last week, Community Business also released its first-ever research on chairpersons' and directors' perspectives titled "Board Diversity in Hong Kong: Directors' Perspectives 2013". The report showed close to 90 per cent of the directors who participated in the study recognise the importance of ensuring a diversity of perspectives on their boards. However, 92 per cent indicated that they still face certain challenges in making their boards more diverse, with one-third citing the inability to identify diverse board candidates as a key barrier.Despite studies showing a more diverse board improving performance, 76 per cent of directors saw board diversity as a measure to comply with corporate governance requirements rather than a move that made good business sense."These findings suggest that the business case for board diversity, and its link to enhanced business performance and competitive advantage, is still not well understood among Hong Kong's listed boards even though there is ample research that demonstrates the positive relationship," the report noted.The Hong Kong survey, which ran from July 23 to Sept 6, revealed that 77 per cent of respondents stated their companies had taken some action following HKEx's implementation of the new code. Slightly under half (44 per cent) say they had an "agreed and disclosed policy".HKEx's new code provision is widely seen as "a tremendous catalyst for change" but companies should not just "tick the box", Ms Ngai said.Lead from the topThe key is to change mindsets at the board level as well as management's mindset to ensure "substance over form" in order to achieve better company performance in the long run. To achieve this, the lead should come from the "top", with the chairman playing a pivotal role.The Hong Kong report concluded that boards should conduct a critical review of their diversity - including demographic aspects of diversity such as gender, culture and age, in order to uncover and address any hidden or unconscious biases - and thus create the basis for evolving their boards to ensure an environment where true meritocracy can flourish in the boardroom and beyond.迷你倉