Joint Trades Letter to Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Brown: Support H.R. 5084, Improving Corporate Governance through Diversity Act of 2019

The Honorable Mike Crapo 
Chairman
Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs 
United States Senate 
Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Sherrod Brown
Ranking Member
Committee on Banking
Housing, and Urban Affairs
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Brown:

The undersigned organizations respectfully request that your committee pass H.R. 5084, the “Improving Corporate Governance through Diversity Act of 2019,” which the House of Representatives passed in a strong bi-partisan vote in November 2019.

Our associations and members support efforts to increase gender, racial, and ethnic diversity on corporate boards of directors, as diversity has become increasingly important to institutional investors, pension funds, and other stakeholders. According to PwC’s 2019 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, 94% of board directors surveyed indicated that a diverse board brings unique perspectives, 87% responded that diversity enhances board performance, and 84% responded that it improves relationships with investors. In addition, 76% of directors agree that board diversity enhances the performance of the company.

The “Improving Corporate Governance through Diversity Act of 2019” would establish a model to organically boost diversity on boards through disclosure. This legislation would also establish an advisory group that would carry out a study and provide recommendations on private sector strategies to increase gender, racial and ethnic diversity among boards of directors.

We urge you to consider H.R. 5084 and look forward to working with you on this important legislation.

Sincerely,

American Bankers Association
Bank Policy Institute
Financial Services Forum
International Council of Shopping Centers
Nareit
National Association of Investment Companies
National Bankers Association
National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Business League, Inc.
National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI)
Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)
TechNet
The Latino Coalition
The Real Estate Roundtable
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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