The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced Tuesday that it has set a target of 45% women in its senior leadership team by 2020, and 50% by 2025. Currently, the FCA’s leadership is 39% female.
The FCA also set ethnicity targets, indicating that it is aiming for 8% of senior leadership to come from an ethnic minority by 2020, and to reach 13% by 2025. Currently, just 3% of its senior leaders identifies as an ethnic minority, the FCA says.
The regulator says that the targets for 2025 would bring it in line with the composition of the overall population in the U.K., based on official statistics.
“Every day we make judgments and decisions that impact almost everyone in the U.K. so it’s vital that our people reflect the society that we serve,” says Andrew Bailey, CEO of the FCA, in a news release. Setting targets for the FCA senior leadership team to be representative of the female and [ethnic minority] U.K. populations is a logical next step.”
“Encouraging diverse attitudes and opinions in our daily work makes us a stronger and more effective regulator,” he adds.