HKEX success in putting women on boards a boon to Hong Kong

South China Morning Post

3 days ago

Inclusion and fairness are fundamental human values, yet many societies struggle to strike a balance between removing barriers and holding everyone to high performance standards. One recent example is the controversial US rollback of
diversity, equity and inclusion rules . So, it was encouraging to see Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) claim success in its push to
eliminate all-male boards from companies listed on the region's third-largest bourse.
HKEX said fewer than 10 of Hong Kong's roughly 2,600 listed companies had all-male boards as of the end of June. The exceptions were firms suspended from trading or temporarily out of compliance because of a resignation.
At the start of the year, when an HKEX ban on single-gender boards went into effect, there were still 85 companies with all-male boards. When the policy was announced in 2022, more than 800 firms – or 40 per cent of listed companies – had no female directors.
More than 21 per cent of the directors today are women. While that lags behind the global average of 27 per cent of board seats held by women as of 2024, the city is in good company with a sizeable number of markets around the world now using mandates and deadlines to push for change.
The shift seems good for business. Hong Kong's Financial Services Development Council called it 'confidence-building' for investors to see HKEX taking firm steps. The move was credited with the main board's return to
global leadership in initial public offerings.
Katherine Ng, head of listing at HKEX, said the requirement had 'enhanced governance in our markets'. Bonnie Chan Yiting, HKEX's first female chief executive officer, said diversity 'brings more ideas, more perspectives into boardroom discussions'.