Progressive ideology is hitting the world stock market, and there will be consequences. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved new rules for one of the world’s largest stock exchanges, the NASDAQ.
Companies that offer their shares on the electronic stock exchange will have to have at least two people in the managing board who are racially or sexually “diverse”. Otherwise, they will have to explain why they do not have them in the management. The decision will affect 4,000 companies around the world, the BBC reported.
The new rules require companies to have at least one director who identifies himself as a woman and at least one who belongs to a minority or who has a non-heterosexual orientation. The stock exchange decided to introduce this rule after complaints about the lack of diversity in the American business world.
According to a study commissioned by NASDAQ last year, 75 percent of companies on the stock exchange do not meet this requirement. Companies will also have to issue reports on the diversity in their management. “These rules will allow investors to gain a better understanding of Nasdaq-listed companies’ approach to board diversity,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
NASDAQ is the third-largest stock exchange in the world, specializing in trading stocks of technology companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft. It was founded in 1971. The ideological decision will affect 4,000 companies listed on this stock exchange from 39 countries around the world.
The NASDAQ’s decision was praised by the American Democrats, while it was criticized by Republicans. “I am disappointed that President Gensler is transforming the financial regulator into a laboratory of progressive social engineering,” said Republican Senator Pat Toomey.
Title image: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq’s groundbreaking proposal to boost the number of women, racial minorities, and LGBTQ people on U.S. corporate boards, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. The new policy requires most of the nearly 3,000 companies listed on Nasdaq to have at least one woman on their board of directors, along with one person from a racial minority or who identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
