The Securities Authority announced the establishment of a "35+" forum to promote gender balance on the boards of directors

The Securities Authority announced the establishment of a "35+" forum to promote gender balance on the boards of directors of reporting corporations in Israel, mutual fund management companies that manage over NIS 5 billion and investment portfolio management companies supervised by the Authority. Objective: By 2028, more than 35% of the composition of the boards of directors of half of these corporations will be women.
The forum will be voluntary and will include, among other things, the representatives of the companies and corporations in which the board of directors consists of more than 35% women. The purpose of the forum is to encourage more corporations in Israel to work to increase the representation of women in senior positions.
The obvious question in this context is how a fundamentally voluntary forum will indeed succeed in promoting change on such an important issue. The Authority's chairwoman, Anat Guetta, explains that she "sees added value in the mobilization of corporations that choose to promote the issue voluntarily, rather than establishing regulation, which her approach constitutes a last resort, given the negative consequences that may be on its side. The basic premise underlying the establishment of the forum is that active action by corporations and managers in key positions is what will drive real change, from the root, in promoting gender diversity in the capital market. "
It should be noted that although the effectiveness of such an action can be disputed, the legislative process in Israel may indeed be long and restrictive, and there are already similar forums in the world that have tried to promote gender equality in the economy bypass.