Securities regulators across the country have come together to publish CSA Multilateral Staff Notice 58-307, which looks at whether companies trading on the TSX have offered executive leadership positions to women.
The notice summarizes CSA staff’s review of more than 700 TSX-listed issuers, following the implementation of amendments to National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices. Those amendments require all non-venture issuers on Canadian markets to make certain annual disclosures with respect to women on boards and in executive officer positions.
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The amendments were adopted to increase transparency and to provide meaningful additional information to investors, says Louis Morisset, CSA chair, and president and CEO of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
The CSA’s review shows nearly half of the TSX issuers evaluated (49%) have women on their boards, and that 60% have at least one woman in an executive officer position. Moreover, 15% have added one or more women to their boards this year.
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The review also finds that issuer size and industry are the most significant indicators of whether issuers have adopted initiatives to increase the representation of women.
“Some issuers have carefully considered the new disclosure requirements,” says Morisset. But, “We strongly encourage all issuers to review the guidance in [today’s] notice to improve the quality of disclosure and increase transparency regarding the representation of women on boards and in executive officer positions.”