In 2014 the European Union reformed the regulatory framework of statutory audits in Directive 2014/56/EC and Regulation (EU) Nr. 537/2014. Part of the new legislation addresses the composition and responsibilities of the audit committee of public-interest entities. This contribution studies the...

The European Commission launched a Green Paper on corporate governance aimed largely at listed companies in April 2011. The Green Paper recognizes that institutional investors play a dominant role in the current financial markets, but it criticizes the short-term thinking and practice among...

The composition of the board of directors is considered key for the success of the company. The current approach to compose this board is to provide shareholders and investors with individual information of the skills and experience of (candidate) directors. The information is insufficient to...

The share of women on executive boards of large companies in Germany has increased somewhat more strongly than in previous years. The top 200 companies reached the ten percent mark for the first time: women held 14 more board positions than in the previous year, 94 out of 907. Growth was also...

The statutory gender quota for supervisory boards is effective: the proportion of women on supervisory boards has increased over the past years, especially in the companies subject to the quota. But is the quota creating trickle-down effects for executive boards? As the second part of the DIW...

Over the past year, the proportion of women serving on the executive and supervisory boards of the top 100 largest banks in Germany rose slightly to almost nine and 23 percent, respectively. However, growth has come to a halt in the 60 largest insurance companies: on both executive and...

The gender quota for supervisory boards in Germany is effective: by the end of 2017, the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of a good 100 companies that are subject to the quota had risen to 30 percent-three percentage points more than in the previous year. Almost two-thirds of the...

The proportion of women on executive boards of the 100 largest banks stagnated at almost nine percent in 2018. In the 60 largest insurance companies, the proportion increased by a good percentage point to almost ten percent. While growth on executive boards has been weakening in past years, it...

The gender quota for supervisory boards is continuing to show its impact: the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of the 200 highest-performing companies in Germany increased by over two percentage points to 27 percent the past year. In the 100 largest companies, it increased by over...