ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation sponsors “Cross Border Dialogue” event + study tour in London

Above: Study tour participants in London.

Last week the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation was pleased to once again sponsor FutureBoards’ annual “Cross Border Dialogue” event in London. The event occurred on 13 October and was hosted by the Norwegian Embassy in London; it brought together members of the Norwegian and British finance industries to share experiences and discuss ideas to improve the gender balance in decision making positions in the corporate world and in the finance industry.
This year the event also included a one-day study tour on 12 October, during which a group of female leaders from the Norwegian finance industry visited financial institutions in London, in order to gather insights and take inspiration regarding activities that could help improve the gender balance on boards and in top management roles in Norway. Stops on the tour included meetings/presentations with the Financial Times, Aviva, Norges Bank Investment Management, the Royal Norwegian Embassy and HM Treasury.
The Cross Border Dialogue event and study tour were produced by FutureBoards, a Norwegian organisation devoted to encouraging better corporate governance. The Foundation has partnered with FutureBoards to sponsor the London Cross Border Dialogue event since 2018 and in 2022 the Foundation’s chair, Adele Norman Pran, also participated virtually in a FutureBoards Cross Board Dialogue event in Shanghai. She was also one of the participants at this year’s Cross Boarder Dialogue event, where she shared her experiences from the Norwegian financial industry and outlined some suggestions for improving the gender balance in the industry.
Since the creation of the London event in 2018, one of the most notable developments has been the creation of the “Kvinner i Finans Charter” initiative in 2021. The Norwegian initiative, which commits signatories of its charter to meeting certain gender-related targets, arose as a direct consequence of the Cross Boarder Dialogue event, during which the UK Women in Finance Charter presented; the Norwegian initiative took direct inspiration from the British example and launched in 2021.
Futureboards’ CEO and founder, Turid Solvang, commented that: “We believe that one important way for companies to ensure they are prepared for potential changes in markets, technology, the economy and regulatory frameworks is to achieve broader diversity among board directors and in management teams. However, given that the pace of change is depressingly slow, we are determined to help speed the process. By exchanging experience, knowledge and ideas across borders, we believe that we can move faster. This is why we invited a group of female leaders from the Norwegian finance industry to join us for the study tour. The purpose of the tour is to gather insight on activities and actions that actually work”.
To sum up this year’s event, the Foundation’s Marianne Daae commented that: “Thank you once again to FutureBoards for creating this great venue for sharing best practices across borders. The ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation is proud to support the Cross Border dialogue event, and we hope that this year’s addition of a study tour for female leaders in the Norwegian finance industry provided even more inspiration to take home and accelerate the change we strive to achieve”.
You can read more about the study tour here and the Cross Border Dialogue event here.

Above: Study tour / Cross-Border Dialogue event participants.

About Futureboards
FutureBoards is an independent global network of corporate governance experts and practitioners committed to building better boards that support sustainable value creation. Based in Norway and anchored in Nordic corporate governance, FutureBoards contributes to the collection and sharing of research and ideas from the perspectives of different stakeholders, investors, boards of directors, management, academics, politicians and regulators. Turid E. Solvang is the CEO and founder.
You can learn more about FutureBoards here.