“One of the major problems in the labour market in Croatia is the employment rate of women, because only 60% of women aged 20 to 65 work, which makes us the third worst country in the European Union in this respect. Therefore, it is extremely important to increase the participation of women in the labour market, which will then have a positive impact on GDP growth", said Governor Boris Vujčić, participating in the panel Regulatory and Financial Sector Perspective, held as part of the conference Corporate Governance in Focus: the Perspective of the Gender Balance on Corporate Boards Directive, organized by the Office of the European Parliament in Croatia and the Croatian Association of Women in the Legal Profession.

The CNB Governor stated that the analysis showed that of credit institutions supervised by the CNB the provisions of the directive would apply only to four banks. Specifically, the directive applies only to large companies listed on the capital market, that is to say, on a stock exchange. Furthermore, the directive requires listed companies to be subject to any of the prescribed targets, to be achieved by 30 June 2026. Those targets include the under-represented sex holding at least 40 % of non-executive director positions and at least 33 % of all director positions, including both executive and non-executive directors. Currently, two of these banks meet these objectives, and three banks met them in previous periods.

“However, as far as banks are concerned, it is not necessary to wait for the transposition of the directive into Croatian law, which is expected by the end of next year, because the existing regulation already stipulates that credit institutions must determine the targeted representation of the underrepresented sex in the management and supervisory boards and propose a strategy to increase the number of the underrepresented sex. I am pleased to confirm that the CNB monitors diversity policies as part of the supervisory dialogue and recommendations to credit institutions," said Boris Vujčić, adding that the situation at the CNB was excellent in this regard. Of the total number of managers, said Boris Vujčić, more than half are women and the CNB, along with another central bank, is the best in the European Union in this regard.

The panel Regulatory and Financial Sector Perspective was moderated by Nataša Novaković, member of the Management Board of Croatian Association of Women in the Legal Profession. Along with Governor Vujčić, it was attended by Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, Andreja Hašček, Head of the Issuers Supervision Department of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency and Pavle Djurić, Assistant Director and Senior Advisor at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.