Glass Lewis has reported on how its Diversity Disclosure Assessment ratings were applied to U.S. companies in 2021. In addition, Viewpoint and Governance Hub subscribers have access to a new overview of board diversity-related legislation and listing requirements, broken down state-by-state.
For many years, board composition has been a critical element of corporate governance. While investors’ focus on this topic has been consistent, it has also evolved over time, with increasing emphasis on gender, racial and ethnic diversity. Legislative bodies and stock exchanges are taking notice, and passing new rules that relate to board diversity and relevant reporting. Glass Lewis’ new U.S. Board Diversity State & Exchange Rules special report breaks down all the current and pending laws across the U.S. that public companies and investors need to be aware of, and explains how Glass Lewis will apply its voting policies.
Because company disclosure is a critical aspect of assessing the mix of diverse attributes and skills of directors, last year Glass Lewis began tracking the quality of U.S. public companies’ board diversity disclosures in their proxy statements. Our Approach to Diversity Disclosure Ratings is now updated for 2022, covering an expanded universe of companies with a more precise rating system; and we have reported our findings on how those ratings were applied in 2021.
Our updated Approach to Diversity Disclosure Ratings and 2021 Findings are available on the Supplementary Guidance page of our website.
Clients can access our U.S. Board Diversity State & Exchange Rules Breakdown on Viewpoint (via the Special Reports tab on the Help & Resources pop-up menu), or Governance Hub (via the Special Reports tab).