Board Diversity: A MANDATE FOR LISTED ENTITIES
Diversity is a key factor that is receiving increasing attention from regulators, investors, and other stakeholders. Regulation 17 (1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations, 2015, which mandates the composition of the board of directors of a listed entity. The regulation specifies that the board of directors must have an optimal combination of executive and non-executive directors, with at least one woman director. Additionally, not less than 50% of the board of directors must comprise of non-executive directors. The regulation further states that the top 1000 listed entities must have at least one independent woman director. This requirement is in addition to having an optimal combination of executive and non-executive directors. The top 1000 entities are determined based on their market capitalization as at the end of the immediate previous financial year. Furthermore, if the chairperson of th...