On 16 July 2024, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a report on the review of the application of gender-neutral remuneration policies.
The EBA issued guidelines on gender-neutral remuneration policies for institutions and investment firms on 31 December 2021 and 30 April 2022, respectively. Article 74(3) of the Capital Requirements Directive IV and Article 26(4) of the Investment Firms Directive mandate the EBA to issue a report on the application of gender-neutral remuneration policies by institutions and investment firms within two years of the date of publication of these guidelines, based on information collected by Member State competent authorities (NCAs).
The headlines from the report include:
- Most institutions and a majority of investment firms have adopted remuneration policies that are explicitly gender-neutral.
- 85.0% of institutions but only 62.6% of investment firms monitor the representation of women and that 79.9% of institutions but only 60.6% of investment firms regularly review the gender pay gap.
- NCAs are supervising the application of gender-neutral remuneration policies to a large extent as part of the annual Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process or other reviews performed, including in smaller institutions.
- Observations made by institutions and investment firms point to the persistence of a gender pay gap. The persistence of a gender pay gap indicates that further work is needed to ensure ‘equal opportunities’ and that there are biases that require further attention, e.g., the gender balance in more senior positions.
- The level of transparency on gender-neutral remuneration and diversity metrics could be improved.