Increase the female presence in the button rooms. Among the major companies listed on Piazza Affari, the boards renewed in 2016 have 10% more female directors than the pre-renewal situation. Not only that: almost 80% of outgoing unconfirmed directors are men (79,1%), while almost half of the newly appointed directors are women (47,9%). As for the confirmed directors, women are a third. This is what emerges from an Assonime report presented today in Milan on the occasion of a conference organized with the OECD.
THE NUMBER OF LISTS PRESENTED AND NEW DIRECTORS
The study of the association between Italian Spas refers to the 27 companies listed on the Ftse Mib (9) or on the Mid Cap (18) which have renewed their board of directors or supervisory boards this year. According to the analysis, in eight cases a single list was presented, while in the other 19 companies two or more lists were presented (among these, in five companies three or more lists were presented). The average number of board members has decreased from 13,4 to 12,3 and approximately one third of the members of the new boards are represented by newly appointed directors.
THE AVERAGE AGE
As regards age, the new directors are an average of two years younger than those in office at the end of 2015. In particular, the average age of the new directors is 58 years, against 60 of previous compositions. Outgoing directors are on average 61,8 years old, while those newly appointed are 56,8. The average age of the confirmed directors is 58,8 years.
PARTICIPATION IN THE ASSEMBLY
In terms of participation in shareholders' meetings, the study reveals that the total share present is around 70% for all companies with certain control, while it drops to around 50% for companies with more widespread ownership, where there are informal coalitions which usually represent the majority of the board of directors.
MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS
In general, the weight of minority shareholders in the meeting increases with the weakening of the intensity of control, to the point that in companies controlled by de facto and in those with informal coalitions, minority shareholders represent respectively about half and more than two thirds of the capital present at the meeting.
The percentage of minority shareholders' dissent also increases as the intensity of control decreases: it is lower in companies characterized by a strong controlling shareholder (control by right), while it is higher in companies led by an informal coalition. In any case, approximately one third of the minority shareholders voted for the list of the controlling or reference shareholder. Finally, 80% of companies with more widespread ownership assign an enhanced shareholding to minorities, while this happens only in 27% of the cases for companies with certain ownership.
