ARIR and ANES signed a collaboration partnership in for implementing new regulations

Daniela Maior (Șerban), ARIR President, MP VERTIK Group: "The partnership with ANES continues a long-standing good collaboration and provides a valuable know-how resource for the capital market community. ARIR supports that by adhering to standards of transparency, corporate governance, and proactive communication with investors, companies will benefit from added value, attract financing more easily, and gain the reputation and trust necessary for the continuous development of their businesses. Under these conditions, we monitor the legislative changes regarding gender balance in leadership structures, expressing our position on the transposition of European directives. Once they are transposed, we aim to support listed companies in implementing the new provisions."

Luminița Popescu, State Secretary, along with Simona Butacu, Undersecretary of State, National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (ANES): "By signing the partnership agreement with ARIR, we are addressing the legislative changes that we are closely monitoring and collaborating to identify the best methods for integrating the principles of equal opportunities and treatment between women and men within companies. We support the importance of joint and practical efforts that assist listed companies in implementing Directive (EU) 2022/2381 «Women on Boards». Together with the Financial Supervisory Authority, we will monitor the implementation of the Directive and report Romania's progress to the European Commission annually. Recently, we approved the Methodological Guide for standardizing the action plan on gender equality and treatment between women and men within public or private entities (Order no. 102/08.05.2024), which will significantly contribute to increasing the overall level of gender equality in Romania, with implications for the application of the Directive aimed at gender balance in the leadership structures of listed companies."

The first action within the partnership with the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men took place on June 7, with the participation at leadership level of a representative from ANES at Forum by ARIR 2024. The discussions focused on setting and achieving gender balance objectives in the leadership structures of listed companies. Additionally, there were highlighted aspects regarding the role of ANES alongside the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) in monitoring the activities of listed companies, in accordance with the provisions of the draft law amending Law no. 24/2017, which transposes Directive (EU) 2022/2381. This directive requires listed companies to establish selection procedures and specific gender balance objectives for their boards of directors.

According to the Women on Boards directive, by mid-2026, each listed company in the European Union must have at least 40% representatives of the underrepresented gender in non-executive director positions or at least 33% representation of both executive and non-executive directors.