Discussions around board gender diversity are picking up steam
in the lead up to the 2018 proxy season. Some of the leading proxy
advisory firms, namely the Institutional Shareholder Services
(ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC (Glass
Lewis), appear to have caught wind of the discussions
– both firms added a voting policy in respect of board gender
diversity to their 2018 proxy voting guidelines for Canada.
The discussions around board gender diversity are not new. In
late 2014 (and as
reported on this blog), the Canadian Securities Administrators
(CSA) published 'comply or explain' rules (the
CSA Rules) regarding the representation of women
in director and executive officer positions that were adopted by
the securities regulatory authorities in a majority of Canadian
provinces and territories. This approach requires TSX-listed
issuers to disclose on an annual basis:
