IFA-Ethics & Boards Barometer: 10 years of governance practices
Ethics & Boards and IFA are publishing the 10th edition of their annual Barometer on responsible corporate governance among SBF 120 companies. For this anniversary edition, the Barometer takes a look back at a decade of evolving governance practices and continues its analysis of the major transformations reshaping the role and responsibilities of boards.
Read the barometerForum Gouvernance 2026 — Economic sovereignty, succession plans and the Rixain law
Economic sovereignty, leadership succession and a first assessment of the Rixain law on women in executive bodies: Ethics & Boards joins the debate alongside board members, investors and advisers.
International diversity on boards · 2% — of SBF 120 board seats are held by nationals of the Asia-Pacific region · 8% in the FTSE 100
Average age of board chairs · 67 years — in the FTSE 100
AGM 2026 update #8 — SBF 120 resolution votes · 53 — Say on Pay resolutions approved with less than 80% support · Votes at the 2026 AGMs of 109 companies as at 1 July 2026
AGM 2026 update #7 — SBF 120 resolution votes · 96% — the average approval rate for resolutions at the 2026 AGMs
SBF 120 — CEO fixed pay · +3% — on average in 2026 against 2025
State-owned enterprises — transparency of board remuneration policy · 25% — of commercial companies in Europe disclose their remuneration policy
As relational skills gain ground, commercial roles move back to the centre of value creation — and raise the question of where women will stand in tomorrow's circles of power.
The Rixain law delivered on executive committees. It has not broken the glass ceiling that blocks the way to the chief executive's office.
Since March, the Rixain law has required French companies with at least 1,000 employees to reach a 30% quota of women among senior executives and leadership bodies. The obligation is already bearing fruit, even if it does not always come with real cultural change.
Catching up. Europe holds its lead on board diversity and structure, but its boards lack the strategic capacity to face a world in flux, finds the 2026 barometer of the European Confederation of Directors' Associations (ecoDa), produced with Ethics & Boards.
Quotas succeeded in bringing women onto boards. But the doors of executive committees remain too often closed to them, says Denis Terrien of the Institut Français des Administrateurs.
From 1 March, the law sets a 30% quota of women among senior executives and leadership bodies at large companies, rising to 40% in 2029. Marie-Pierre Rixain, who initiated the text, is confident.
An external board evaluation, a tailored benchmark, a Gov360 demo — tell us what you need, and let's talk.
Every week, one governance data point drawn from Gov360 Data — a measured fact on boards, remuneration or ESG, with the context to read it. Plus our studies and press mentions as they are published.
One email a week. Unsubscribe anytime.