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- More than 120 Stock Exchanges around the world join the initiative, including the Swiss stock exchange, which is also operated by SIX
The Spanish Stock Exchange began today's session with an honorary Ringing of the Bell for Gender Equality to commemorate International Women's Day. The ringing of the bell was led by Paula Conthe, Secretary General of the Treasury and International Finance, and Paloma Marín, Vice President of the CNMV, accompanied by Cristina Sánchez, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Spain, and Juan Flames, CEO of BME.
The event is part of the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality initiative promoted by the World Federation of Exchanges and Sustainable Stock Exchanges together with the UN Global Compact, UN Woman and IFC. This is the eighth consecutive occasion in which BME joins this initiative together with the UN Global Compact Spain with the aim of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women in the workplace, especially in the financial community.
In this edition, more than 120 stock exchanges around the world have joined the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality initiative, including the Zurich Stock Exchange, managed by SIX and owner of BME.
Paloma Marín stressed that “the presence of women in the private sector continues to improve and Ibex 35 companies are above the CNMV's Good Governance Code recommendation of 40% for the second year in a row. However, there is ample room for improvement in senior management positions and we must continue to work to consolidate this positive trend”.
Paula Conthe stressed the importance of promoting gender equality and stated that “only by harnessing the capacity and talent of 100% of our company will we achieve better results”.
Cristina Sánchez said: “Gender equality must be translated into clear and measurable objectives. Corporate policies, performance evaluation criteria, promotions and rewards must ensure a path to success and leadership for all.”
According to Juan Flames, it is everyone's task to work so that our girls and boys find references, are educated and grow up in an environment of equality. “At BME, as a market infrastructure, we support compliance with the best standards among our listed companies through the development of indexes such as the IBEX Gender Equality, of which 57 companies are already part.”
BME has been part of the UN Global Compact Spain since 2011 and since 2015 in the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, which seeks to promote sustainable investment through the Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN for the 2030 Agenda.
