The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) is following much of the rest of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) as it announced on Thursday that it’s adopting new disclosure requirements for issuers regarding gender diversity in senior management and on corporate boards.
Specifically, the ASC is adopting rules proposed earlier this year that will require non-venture issuers to provide annual disclosure about the representation of women on their boards and in senior management, along with their policies on gender equality in these roles, among other things.
Most of the other members of the CSA already adopted these requirements in 2014, but the ASC initially resisted on the basis that it didn’t believe that gender diversity on corporate boards and in senior management was part of its mandate.
However, the province’s minister of Finance and Treasury Board asked the regulator to reconsider its position and it’s now adopting the requirements, effective Dec. 31.
“This decision incorporates investor feedback that gender diversity information is helpful when making investment and voting decisions,” says Stan Magidson, chairman and CEO of the ASC, in a statement.
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