The Changing Composition of the Supervisory Boards of the Eight Largest Banks and Insurers During 2008-2014 and the Impact of the '4 4 Suitability Screenings'

Abstract

In this article we describe the changes in the composition of management boards and supervisory boards that have taken place in the Dutch financial sector since 2008. In particular, we consider the effects of the introduction of suitability screening for executive directors and supervisory directors at the four largest banks and the four largest insurers in the Netherlands (the 4+4 screenings). In the summer of 2012, the supervisory directors of these eight institutions were the first group to undergo suitability screening, enabling the impact of screening on the composition of the board to be examined in isolation. This article demonstrates that the composition of the management boards and supervisory boards of these Dutch financial institutions has changed substantially since 2008. Notable findings are the fall in the average size of the supervisory boards from 9.3 to 7.3 supervisory directors, the increase in the percentage of female supervisory directors to 27.6%, and the recovery in the number of foreign supervisory directors, which showed a constant decline after 2008, started to rise again in 2012 and reached 19% in 2014. There has been hardly any change in the average age of executive directors and supervisory directors, the average term of office or the size of the management board.