The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has published a report on diversity in the leadership of Danish credit institutions, concluding that change at board and executive management level remains slow. Drawing on Danish data from the latest European Banking Authority benchmarking exercise, the report shows that men are still overrepresented across senior leadership roles, with female representation particularly low among executive management members and in positions such as chief executive officer and board chair. The report covers 25 Danish credit institutions included in the EBA benchmarking sample and also includes a supervisory review of seven institutions' compliance with diversity rules. It finds that employee-elected board members have the most balanced gender split, while the average age of leadership is rising and the share of members under 50 remains low. Educational and professional backgrounds are broader on boards than in executive management, where about 76 percent have banking backgrounds. Across the seven institutions reviewed, diversity work was typically anchored in the board and executive management and focused on policies, target setting where the underrepresented gender is below 40 percent, talent development, succession planning, recruitment measures to reduce bias, and regular reporting and follow-up.
Danish Finanstilsynet 2026-05-07
Danish Financial Supervisory Authority finds slow progress and persistent gender imbalance in Danish credit institution leadership
The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has published a report on diversity in the leadership of 25 Danish credit institutions, finding that progress at board and executive management level remains slow and that men remain overrepresented, particularly in chief executive officer and board chair roles. A supervisory review of seven institutions shows more balanced gender representation among employee-elected board members, rising average leadership age, and a predominance of banking backgrounds in executive management, while diversity efforts are anchored in boards and executive management through policies, targets, talent development, recruitment measures, and reporting.