The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Tuesday announced that companies planning initial public offerings (IPOs) must have at least one woman on their board of directors to boost gender equality among listed firms.
The announcement would affect a dozen companies planning IPOs on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the Taipei Exchange (TPEX) this year, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang (張振山) told a news conference in Taipei.
Six out of 32 firms planning to list on the TWSE and five out of 24 looking to debut their shares on the TPEX do not have female directors, TWSE president Chien Lih-chung (簡立忠) and TPEX chief executive officer Edith Lee (李愛玲) said, adding that some firms are making contingency plans to meet the new requirement.
Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei Times
The TWSE and TPEX are considering giving firms time to install female directors before the end of the year, the commission said.
Listed companies scheduled to hold board elections next year are also required to have at least one female director, Chang said.
Currently, 497 listed companies, or 28 percent of the total, do not have female directors, he said.
As 163 companies plan to hold board elections next year, they must comply with this new requirement, he said.
From 2025, listed firms that do not meet the requirement that one-third of their board must be female will have to explain why and present improvement plans, he said.
“Women joining the board has become the international trend, which is crucial to promote diversity and corporate governance,” he said.
Asia is lagging behind Europe in terms of female representation on boards, Chang said.
Taiwan would be the third nation in Asia making female board members mandatory, after Hong Kong and Malaysia, he said.
South Korea requires only companies with assets larger than 2 trillion won (US$1.5 billion) to appoint one female director, he added.
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