Nasdaq Proposes Board Diversity Disclosure Rules

On December 1, 2020, Nasdaq proposed new listing rules related to board diversity. The proposal was the culmination of Nasdaq's assessment of a number of factors, including: its engagement with organizational leaders in the business, investor, governance, regulatory and civil rights communities, who expressed overwhelming support for the diversification of boardrooms; its review of academic research demonstrating that diverse boards are positively associated with improved corporate governance and financial performance; and its recognition that legislators at the federal and state level are increasingly taking action to encourage or mandate corporations to diversify their boards and improve diversity disclosures. The proposal notes that notwithstanding recent progress made by some companies in diversifying their boardrooms, "the national market system and the public interest would best be served by an additional regulatory impetus for companies to embrace meaningful