2005 CWDI Report: Women Board Directors of Latin Trade 100 Companies

2005 Latin Trade 100 001

2005 CWDI Report: Women Board Directors of Latin Trade 100 Companies

The 2005 CWDI Report on Women Board Directors of Latin Trade 100 Companies focuses on the top 100 companies ranked by Latin Trade. The study found that women held 5.1% of board seats in the region.

 


Key Findings

  • The majority (64%) of the 100 largest publicly-listed companies in Latin America do not have women on their boards of directors.  Only 5.1% of board directorships in the Latin Trade 100 are held by women.  This contrasts with 10.4% women’s representation on the boards of the Fortune Global 200 companies.
  • The pacesetters in Corporate Latin America lag behind their counterparts globally.  The majority of the Fortune Global 200 companies (73.5%) have women directors, according to the 2004 CWDI report.  Only 36%, however, of the Latin Trade 100 Companies have at least one woman serving on their board.
  • Brazilian companies dominate the Top Ten list of companies with the highest percentage of women on their boards of directors, with 11 out of 16 companies (due to ties) making it into this best practice ranking.
  • Copesul, a Brazilian chemical company, ranks first in the Top Ten list with the best percentage of women directors in the Latin Trade 100 companies: 42.9%.  Out of seven directors on Copesul’s board as of December 31, 2004, three were women.  Brazil Telecom is on second place in the Latin American region with 27.3% (2 out of 7 directors); while Klabin, a Brazilian paper and pulp company ranks third with 23.1% women’s representation on their board (3 out of 13)
  • Mexico only has three companies in the Top Ten listing:
    • Femsa, a beverage company, ranking seventh place with 15.8% (3 women directors out of 19);
    • Grupo Imsa, ranking eighth place with 14.3% (2 out of 14);
    • Grupo Bimbo, ranking tenth place with 11.8% (2 out of 17).
  • The only large Venezuelan company included in the 2004 Latin Trade 100, CANTV, also made it to CWDI’s Top Ten list with 22.2% women’s representation on its board (2 out of 9).
  • Brazilian companies in the Latin Trade 100 bested Mexican companies with an aggregate percentage of 7.8% women’s representation on their boards (28 women directors in 42 companies out of 360 directorships) compared to Mexico’s 4.3% (20 women directors in 37 companies out of 460 board seats).
  • Among the companies in the Latin Trade 100 with NO women directors are some of the best known names among consumers.  Six of the ten largest companies in Latin America have no women directors: Walmart de Mexico, Telecom Carso Global, America Telecom, Cemex, Repsol YPF and CVRD.
  • Mexico has a greater number of companies with no women directors – 24 — than Brazil (22). None of Argentina’s five largest companies have women directors.
  • Many of the women board directors in the 100 largest companies in Latin America are family members reflecting the family ownership pattern of corporations in the region.

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