EBA Peer Review Finds Most Reviewed Supervisors Effectively Implement Gender Diversity Policies In Management Bodies

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published a Peer Review assessing how effectively supervisors implement and supervise diversity policies, specifically gender diversity, within the management bodies of financial institutions. The Review found that most of the competent authorities assessed have largely or fully met the benchmarks set and adequately supervised and implemented gender diversity policies. The Peer Review looked at six competent authorities, focusing on how they applied the respective requirements laid down in the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) and EBA Guidelines across six key benchmarks.

Despite the high level of supervisory convergence, the Peer Review also identified some deficiencies requiring follow-up. For instance, on the benchmark of ‘Own benchmarking of diversity policies’ three supervisors were rated as ‘partially applied’ overall, and five out of six were rated as ‘partially applied’ on the underlying criterion concerning the further use of their own diversity benchmarking results. To address these gaps, the EBA recommends improvements in the collection and publication of supervisors’ benchmarking results, which would enhance sector transparency and help credit institutions compare practices with their peers.

The EBA also identified both individual and general follow-up measures, as well as a few best practices that other competent authorities could adopt to strengthen their supervisory approaches and further enhance consistency and effectiveness of supervisory outcomes across the EU.

Legal basis and background

Article 30 of the EBA Founding Regulation requires the EBA to periodically conduct peer reviews of some or all of the activities of competent authorities within its remit, to further strengthen consistency and effectiveness in supervisory outcomes. These peer reviews identify follow-up actions and  best practices. Two years after each review, the EBA assesses the adequacy and effectiveness of the actions taken in response.

This Peer Review has been performed by an ad hoc Peer Review Committee made up of EBA and competent authorities’ staff in accordance with the EBA peer review work plan and following the process in Article 30 of the EBA Regulation and EBA peer review methodology.