Watch Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia's interview

“I would have an expectation over the coming years to see boards and senior leadership of native, national institutions working hard to deliver diversity and change culture… And if we are seeing that progress is not happening, then at some point it becomes a supervisory matter and it may even become a matter that we would need to deal with in how we decide or prevent appointments or not”

Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive, Financial Conduct Authority 

We are delighted to announce that the Ethnic Diversity in the City and Corporate UK Summit will take place on the 21 January 2021. 

Keynote speakers:

John Glen MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister

Dr Tony Sewell CBE, Chair of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities and Managing Director, Generating Genius

The Black Lives Matter movement has heightened awareness of the stark lack of racial diversity in the City and across Corporate UK. The FCA’s policy to encourage firms to hire more ethnic minority candidates in senior roles is just a part of wider efforts to tackle a widespread problem.

In the City, Financial News recently revealed that out of 650 top dealmakers in London, only three were black. In a separate investigation by the paper, not a single top investment bank disclosed details of ethnic diversity in their ranks when asked, and only a handful of top fund managers were able to do the same. That said, many financial institutions have embarked on initiatives to increase racial diversity among their employees, but there is a long way to go.

Turning to Corporate UK, the latest update in February from the Parker Review – a government-backed report into ethnic diversity in boardrooms of stock market listed companies – showed that ethnically diverse executives held only 178 of 2.625 director positions across the FTSE 350 index. To improve ethnic diversity, the Parker Review recommended that each FTSE 100 board should have at least one director of BAME background by 2021 and by 2024 for the FTSE 250.

The pressure from shareholders is increasing too. The Investment Association recently said that almost 75% of FTSE 100 companies failed to report the ethnic make-up of their boards in this year’s AGM season. By failing to be transparent, companies are preventing investors from holding them to account on progress. The Investment Association’s Institutional Voting Information Service issued the highest warning level this year to 29 companies for their lack of board diversity.

At government level, Boris Johnson announced on 14 June that he would establish a cross-government commission to examine “all aspects” of racial inequality in the UK. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities is aiming to report its findings on the priority areas of health, education, criminal justice and employment by the end of this year.

This timely conference will provide delegates with an in-depth understanding of the most effective measures and approaches to promote equality and diversity in the City and Corporate UK. The attendees will be advised on how best to deal with the challenges ethnic minorities are facing while making their way up to senior roles, as well as how to remove those barriers and build trust among employees while aligning and supporting ethnic diversity initiatives.

Discussion themes:

• Why is greater racial diversity and equality a business imperative today?


• What works and what doesn’t for current and future ethnically diverse leaders and how effective the existing measures and approaches to promote equality and diversity have been? How can we drive a unique culture and build trust while aligning and supporting the UK Government’s ethnic diversity initiatives?
  
  
• Ethnic diversity in the boardroom – reality, insights and recommendations. Which challenges are ethnic minorities facing while making their way up to senior roles and how do we go about removing those barriers?
  
  
• From trust to inclusion - practical tips and most effective strategies for integrating the Ethnicity Pay Gap initiative and The Race at Work Charter into your business routine. What has and what hasn’t worked so far?
  
  
• Examining unconscious recruitment bias, including how to make the business case for investment in people and how to overcome the issues that currently prevent the creation of opportunities for ethnically diverse talents today? How do we employ the right people, train employees around race, how do we go about sourcing and retaining an ethnically diverse working force? Understanding social change and adjusting systems and processes, not people.