On 16 July 2024, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report on its review of the application of gender-neutral remuneration policies by institutions and investment firms (Report).
Background
The Report follows-up on the Guidelines on gender-neutral remuneration policies for institutions and investment firms published by the EBA on 31 December 2021 and 30 April 2022.
It is based on the review of data collected from national competent authorities about 254 institutions and 99 investment firms, encompassing a total of 1,107,497 staff members.
Key Findings
The main findings of the Report include the following:
- Whilst most firms have already implemented gender-neutral remuneration policies, some still lack remuneration policies that are explicitly gender-neutral, do not monitor whether their remuneration policy is in fact applied in a gender-neutral way, do not calculate the gender pay gap and/or do not provide such information to the public.
- Many competent authorities noted a lower number of female staff in management or high salary grades and considered that this is a main contributor to the gender pay gap.
- Several firms experienced challenges caused by the General Data Protection Regulation when collecting gender-relevant data.
- The level of transparency on gender-neutral remuneration and diversity metrics could be improved by requiring the disclosure of more quantitative indicators on the gender neutrality of remuneration policies and gender representation at different seniority levels, in addition to the existing qualitative disclosure requirements for remuneration policies.
The EBA concludes that the remaining weaknesses around the application of gender-neutral remuneration policies can be addressed by the ongoing supervision of institutions and investment firms and that there is no need for immediate legal action.
It will consider whether and the extent to which the findings of the Report need to be reflected in the EBA Guidelines on sound remuneration policies.
