A report by the European Banking Authority (EBA) highlights persistent gender imbalance and pay gaps in the leadership of the EU banking sector, underscoring limited progress in recent years.
The EBA last Thursday published the results of a benchmarking exercise examining diversity practices across the management bodies of more than 850 credit institutions and investment firms across the European Union.
According to the findings, as of 31 December 2024, significant gender imbalances and pay gaps remain, particularly at senior management level, despite some improvement compared with 2021.
The Authority calls on institutions to consider promoting more balanced gender representation, while urging competent authorities to continue assessing diversity practices and gender pay gaps as part of their supervisory reviews.
Key findings
The report shows that diversity policies are still unevenly applied. Around 20 per cent of institutions do not have a diversity policy in place, while only 67 per cent have set quantitative targets for gender representation.
Gender imbalance persists at senior management level. Nearly half of institutions have no women among their executive directors, and women account for just 12 per cent of chief executive officers across the EU. Although representation is higher in supervisory functions, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles.
Male executive directors earn on average around 10 per cent more than their female counterparts, indicating shortcomings in the implementation of gender-neutral remuneration policies.
The report also identifies a positive correlation between gender balance and return on equity at institutional level, reinforcing the case for stronger diversity practices.
The EBA said it will continue to monitor and assess developments in diversity and remuneration practices across the EU, in line with its mandate. It aims to do so by simplifying data standards, adjusting the frequency of data collection and publication, and improving data quality, which currently limits the ability to publish benchmarking results closer to the reference date.