London (AFP)

The City of London announced on Tuesday that it wanted to tackle the insufficient economic and social diversity in senior positions in the British financial sector.

It will set up a working group dedicated to this issue, with the support of the Ministry of Finance and that in charge of Business, according to a statement issued by the City of London Corporation which represents the business district of the British capital.

The City relies on a report which shows that nine out of 10 senior positions in financial services are held by people from a privileged socio-economic background.

This share is only a third for all British employees, all positions and sectors combined.

The finance study was carried out with 7,780 employees in eight organizations, including the Bank of England, asset manager BlackRock, its competitor Legal & General and Santander bank.

It also shows that employees from less privileged backgrounds take 25% more time to progress in their careers, without evidence of any lower performance.

To reduce these inequalities, the working group will launch a consultation with the authorities and sector associations in order to encourage companies to deal with the problem.

The aim is also to produce analyzes and set up an organization where different employers can compare their initiatives and discuss best practices.

The composition of the working group has not yet been finalized and its results are expected by 2022, with a first meeting scheduled for May 2021.

"Talented individuals should be able to succeed on their own merit and regardless of their socio-economic background. Unfortunately, for many people, this is not yet reality," said Catherine McGuiness, a senior official at the City of London Corporation.

"There is a need to improve diversity in the sector, for business reasons but also for moral reasons," she said.

Several large financial companies have already committed to improving ethnic diversity with a better representation of minorities such as NatWest, HSBC or Lloyds banks.

Legal & General, meanwhile, will gradually start voting against executives and boards of directors of companies that are not doing enough to open up to ethnic minorities.

Similarly, Britain's main employers' organization, the CBI, announced in October that it was launching a campaign to ensure that each board of directors of large groups has at least one of their members from an ethnic minority.

© 2020 AFP