House Financial Services Committee Considers Legislation on Diversity and Inclusion

The House Financial Services Committee considered measures to increase diversity in regulated institutions.

The House Financial Services Committee staff recommended that Congress require banks and other financial institutions to (i) "share diversity and inclusion data with their regulators and the public," (ii) "track" and take steps towards increasing spending with diverse firms, and (iii) publicly disclose the diversity of their boards. Additionally, the House Financial Services Committee considered:

  • H.R. ____, the "Diversity Data Accountability Act," which would require regulated entities, such as banks and other financial institutions, to disclose their diversity policies and practices to their respective regulators' Office of Minority Women and Inclusion ("OMWI");

  • H.R. ___, the "Mergers and Acquisition Disclosure of Diversity and Inclusion Act," which would require banks subject to mergers or acquisitions to provide data on their diversity and inclusion;

  • H.R. ____, the "Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Banking Act," which would require (i) banking regulators to assess financial institutions' diversity and inclusion efforts and (ii) regulated institutions to respond to OMWI requests for information regarding assessments of their diversity policies and practices;

  • H.R. ____, the "Diverse Investment Advisers Act," which would require SEC-registered companies to consider at least one "diverse" asset manager when seeking new asset management services and detail the extent to which they use diverse asset managers; and

  • H.R. 5084, the "Improving Corporate Governance through Diversity Act," which would require public companies to provide annual disclosure review of the voluntarily self-identified gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status of board director, nominee and senior executive officer; in turn, the SEC OMWI would provide guidance on best practices for compliance with diversity disclosures.

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