Female appointments to European financial services boardrooms fell year-on-year in 2023, amid growing demand for C-suite experience

Appointments of female board directors to Europe’s largest financial services firms declined seven percentage points year-on-year, according to the latest EY European Financial Services Boardroom Monitor, which reports that 44% of all appointments last year were of women, down from 51% in 2022.

While all European financial services firms monitored have female representation at boardroom level, the current gender split across all firms stands at 57% male and 43% female (down from 58:42 in 2022), and 31% of listed European financial services firms are still reporting under 40% female representation in their boardroom. This is below the level required by June 2026 to comply with the European Commission’s European Women on Boards Directive, which requires all companies in EU member states to meet a 40% female target for non-executive boards or 33% for all board members.

C-suite experience in demand on European boards

C-suite experience was the top criteria for new board director recruitment in 2023 – for the second year running – with 59% of appointments during the year bringing current or past executive management team experience. However, of directors with c-suite experience appointed this year, just 38% were female, down from 47% in 2022. 

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Across European financial services boardrooms, female directors remain significantly less likely than their male counterparts to have the experience of C-suite role or hold a senior board position. Just over half (51%) of female directors have the experience of an executive management team role, while 64% of male directors have similar experience. Across the population of directors tracked, senior board positions (defined under the FCA’s proposed changes to UK Listing Rules (pdf) as Chair, Chief Executive Officer, Senior Independent Director or Chief Financial Officer are held by women at only 29% of listed European financial firms.

Răzvan Pîrnac, Director, Financial Services Risk Management, EY Romania: “The Romanian banking boardroom reached the target of 33% female representation for all board members, as the gender split of the board of directors of the top 5 Romanian banks is 39% female and 61% male as of December 2023. A similar percentage was registered in December 2022 as well. However, the share of female representation in Romanian banking boardroom is below the EU share of 43%”.

Boardroom skills in demand

Data from the EY Boardroom Monitor shows that 14% of European financial services board directors left their role in 2023, with new appointments lagging departures at 11%.

However, financial services firms have used new appointees to continue to deepen political, technology and sustainability skill sets and experiences on their boards. Of directors appointed in 2023, 36% bring political experience (down from 41% in 2022), 27% have professional experience in tech (up from 22% in 2022), and 22% have professional experience in sustainability or ESG (down from 23% in 2022).

New appointments are still more likely than existing directors to have sustainability, tech and political knowledge and experience. Across all board members, 15% have experience in sustainability, 18% have experience in tech, and 33% have political experience.

In the past year, a greater proportion of female directors have brought experience in tech (33%) and ESG (27%) relative to male peers, 23% of whom have tech experience and 18% have ESG or sustainability experience.

Quick data overview as at 31 December 2023