SEC Invites Regulated Entities to Voluntarily Submit Self-Assessments of Diversity Policies and Practices

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) today introduced its Diversity Assessment Report for Entities Regulated by the SEC.

OMWI created the Diversity Assessment Report to complement the Interagency Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity Policies and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies (Joint Standards) issued by the SEC and five other federal financial regulatory agencies on June 10, 2015.

The Diversity Assessment Report is designed to help regulated entities conduct self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices, as envisioned by the Joint Standards, and provides these entities with a template for submitting information about their self-assessments to OMWI. The Joint Standards also encourage regulated entities to publish information related to their self-assessments on their websites.

"This is an important step in our efforts to understand the diversity and inclusion efforts of our regulated entities, as well as promote transparency and awareness in this area," said Pamela Gibbs, Director of OMWI.

Use of the Joint Standards by regulated entities is voluntary. Likewise, conducting self-assessments and providing diversity assessment information to OMWI are also voluntary. The SEC may use the information from entities' self-assessments to identify which policies and practices reflected in the Joint Standards have been adopted by SEC-regulated entities and to highlight diversity policies and practices that have been successful.

SEC-regulated entities will receive an email from OMWI inviting them to complete the Diversity Assessment Report online using a secure web portal. Additionally, OMWI has published a set of Frequently Asked Questions on its webpage to provide more information about the Joint Standards and the Diversity Assessment Report.