Initiative to Allocate Priority Seats to Women in the Boards of Directors of Companies Traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange
Following the Capital Markets Board resolution to establish independent member seats in the boards of directors of publicly-traded companies, the Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum started an initiative to prioritize women to fill these seats. The initiative is supported by a grant from the Consulate General of Sweden and is conducted with the strategic partnership of Egon Zehnder International.
The project aims to facilitate the presence of women in executive positions as independent board of directors members.
Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum initiated a project to promote its objective of empowering women in decision-making mechanisms mentioned in its Rio +20 declaration. The project is financially supported by the Consulate General of Sweden and strategically supported by Egon Zehnder International.
The project comes in the wake of the Capital Markets Board (CMB) resolution that mandates the presence at least one woman in the boards of directors of companies traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, and requires that one third of the board of directors consists of independent members.
Pursuant to Directive 56 of the CMB, companies that do not have female members in their board of directors must explain the reason for the lack of female members and their efforts to remedy this situation in the required Corporate Governance Compliance Report. This project will make it more difficult for companies to utilize the “unavailability of suitable candidates” reason.
In the first phase of the project, a database of candidates that are qualified to serve in the boards of directors of companies in Turkey and Turkish companies in Europe will be compiled, and candidates will be classified according to their competencies and qualifications. The methodology to be developed by Sabancı University in partnership with Egon Zehnder will enable companies to match the qualifications and competencies they require of their independent board of directors members with the women in the candidates database. The first phase is expected to be completed by December, enabling the first independent female members to be appointed to boards at general assemblies to be held in 2013.
The intellectual content of the project will be supplied by Sabancı University with the support of the professional knowhow of Egon Zehnder. The Sabancı University School of Management is among the 400 schools that have signed the “Responsible Executive Training Principles”. The principles call for signatories to cooperate with companies and public administrations in applied projects that have social importance and priority. The Corporate Governance Forum, composed of faculty members of the Sabancı University School of Management, has been conducting the Turkish chapter of the Carbon Disclosure Project for 3 years as part of this commitment.