On August 6, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved two board diversity proposals previously filed by the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) in December 2020, as modified by amendments in February 2021. The SEC approved the Board Diversity Proposal and Board Recruiting Service Proposal as amended without any further changes. As previously discussed here, Nasdaq intends that the new rules will promote greater gender, racial, and LGBTQ+ diversity among the boards of directors of Nasdaq-listed companies, as well as promote transparency and accountability in corporate decision making.

The following client alert includes more detail regarding the newly adopted Nasdaq board diversity rule, but in short, all Nasdaq-listed companies will be required to publicly disclose a board diversity matrix in 2022 and must have, or explain why they do not have, at least one diverse director on their board by 2023 and a second diverse director in 2025 or 2026 depending on the companies' Nasdaq market, subject to the specific nuances and limited exceptions discussed below. Continue reading >