Title: Diversity in Corporate Leadership Act of 2019
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Diversity in Corporate Leadership Act of 2019
This bill requires each issuer to disclose, in any proxy or consent solicitation material for an annual shareholders meeting, the gender, racial, and ethnic composition of its board of directors and nominees for board membership.
The Securities and Exchange Commission shall establish a Diversity Advisory Group, composed of government, academic, and private-sector representatives, to study strategies for increasing gender, racial, and ethnic diversity among the members of issuers' boards of directors.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3279 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3279

   To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a 
     Diversity Advisory Group to study and make recommendations on 
 strategies to increase gender, racial, and ethnic diversity among the 
 members of the board of directors of issuers, to amend the Securities 
    Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to make disclosures to 
shareholders with respect to gender, racial, and ethnic diversity, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2019

  Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a 
     Diversity Advisory Group to study and make recommendations on 
 strategies to increase gender, racial, and ethnic diversity among the 
 members of the board of directors of issuers, to amend the Securities 
    Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to make disclosures to 
shareholders with respect to gender, racial, and ethnic diversity, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Diversity in Corporate Leadership 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. DIVERSITY STUDY AND DISCLOSURES.

    (a) Diversity Advisory Group.--
            (1) Establishment.--The Securities and Exchange Commission 
        shall establish a Diversity Advisory Group (the ``Advisory 
        Group''), which shall be composed of representatives from the 
        Government, academia, and the private sector.
            (2) Study and recommendations.--The Advisory Group shall--
                    (A) carry out a study on strategies to increase 
                gender, racial, and ethnic diversity among the members 
                of the board of directors of issuers; and
                    (B) not later than 9 months after the establishment 
                of the Advisory Group, issue a report to the 
                Commission, the Committee on Financial Services of the 
                House of Representatives, and the Committee on Banking, 
                Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing the 
                findings and determinations made in carrying out such 
                study, along with recommendations to increase gender, 
                racial, and ethnic diversity among the members of the 
                board of directors of issuers.
            (3) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year following the 
        issuance of the report under paragraph (2)(B), and annually 
        thereafter, the Commission shall issue a report to the 
        Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
        Senate on the status of gender, racial, and ethnic diversity 
        among the members of the board of directors of issuers.
            (4) Public availability of reports.--The Commission shall 
        make all reports of the Advisory Group available to issuers and 
        the public, including on the website of the Commission.
    (b) Disclosures.--The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78a et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 14B the following:

``SEC. 14C. DIVERSITY DISCLOSURES.

    ``The Commission shall, by rule, require each issuer to disclose, 
in any proxy or consent solicitation material for an annual meeting of 
the shareholders of the issuer, the gender, racial, and ethnic 
composition of the issuer's board of directors and nominees for the 
board of directors.''.
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