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Sweden rejects quotas for women on boards of listed companies | Sweden rejects quotas for women on boards of listed companies |
(35 minutes later) | |
Sweden’s parliament has rejected plans to introduce legislation that would fine listed companies who fail to appoint women to at least 40% of board seats. | Sweden’s parliament has rejected plans to introduce legislation that would fine listed companies who fail to appoint women to at least 40% of board seats. |
The leftwing government announced in September that it was drafting the legislation, but the centre-right opposition and a far-right party, which together hold a majority in parliament, told parliament’s law review committee on Thursday that they would not support the project. | |
“The current gender distribution on the boards of listed companies is not satisfactory. However, the committee thinks a more even gender distribution should be encouraged through other means than legislation,” parliament summarised on its website. | “The current gender distribution on the boards of listed companies is not satisfactory. However, the committee thinks a more even gender distribution should be encouraged through other means than legislation,” parliament summarised on its website. |
“I regret it … We’re advancing very slowly towards gender equality in the boardroom,” the enterprise minister, Mikael Damberg, of the Social Democrats, told the TT news agency. | |
Women hold 47.5% of jobs in Sweden, and 32% of board positions in listed companies – higher than the 23% average in the European Union, but below the European commission’s goal of 40% by 2020 for major European companies. | Women hold 47.5% of jobs in Sweden, and 32% of board positions in listed companies – higher than the 23% average in the European Union, but below the European commission’s goal of 40% by 2020 for major European companies. |
The Swedish government had hoped that by 2019 it would have introduced annual fines of between 250,000 and 5m kronor (between £23,000 and £460,000), depending on a company’s market capitalisation. | |
Sweden’s wholly owned state companies have already surpassed the 40% target, with women holding half of those board positions and four of 10 board chairs, according to government figures. |
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