Ring the Bell for Gender Equality

From left to right: Gilson Finkelsztain, B3 CEO; Denise Pavarina, member of B3’s Board of Directors; Denise Hills, President of the Brazilian Global Compact Network and Senior Executive of Sustainability and Inclusive Business at Itaú; Adriana Carvalho, UN Women's manager for Women’s Empowerment Principles; Hector Gomez Ang, general manager IFC for Brazil; Cécile Mérle, first secretary of the European Union delegation in Brazil; Ana Carolina Querino, UN Women representative; Sergio Rial, Santander CEO; Sergio Wilson Ferraz Fontes, managing director at the Real Grandeza Foundation; and Denise Hills, Chairman of the Board of the Global Compact Brazil Network and Chief Sustainability Advisor at Itaú Unibanco

São Paulo, March 8, 2019 - B3 held today the bell ringing ceremony in support of gender equality. Named Ring the Bell for Gender Equality, the event is a partnership of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) with the Global Compact, the UN Women, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Womens in ETFs (WE) and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Its chief goal is to raise awareness on women’s economic empowerment and expand the opportunities in the private sector to promote gender equality and sustainable development 

More than 80 stock exchanges worldwide have joined the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality this year, thus contributing to the Sustainable Development Objectives (ODS) agenda, particularly the ODS 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

Today B3 also announced that it has joined the Gender Diversity on Boards program, a joint initiative of the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Women Corporate Directors (WCD), whose mission is to enhance gender diversity on boards of directors.

The Gender Diversity on Boards group was created in 2015 with the mission of increasing gender diversity on boards of directors. Over the last three years, 68 female mentees and 47 experienced mentors have gone through the program. Each individual mentor/mentee team meets periodically for a period of 12 months and participates in events and discussions organized by the program throughout the year.

"We are very happy that B3 has joined this group and we are certain that this partnership will help bring about even more awareness among members of the public about the importance of gender diversity on boards and in the top management of publicly held companies," says Rosana Passos, coordinator for the Gender Diversity on Boards program. 

According to Sonia Favaretto, B3’s Media Relations, Sustainability and Communications, and Social Investment director, "B3 plays an important role in promoting good market practices and this participation endorses our concern for the gender diversity agenda on boards of directors. We hope to encourage the presence of more and more women on boards," said Sonia.

To support of this agenda and stimulate other listed companies, in 2017 B3 joined the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a joint initiative of UN Women and the Global Compact, which helps the private sector to advance gender equality in the workplace and in the community. B3 was the first signatory of the initiative in the Americas and the sixth in the world.

Gilson Finkelsztain, B3’s Chief Executive Officer, opened this year’s bell ringing event highlighting the importance of gender equality in the workplace. “With this event we seek to advance the discussion on gender equality, promote debate, provide inspiring examples, and encourage a growing number of listed companies to adopt practices that increase gender equality," said the CEO at the opening ceremony.

The event included a panel discussion on Angles of Gender Diversity, which was attended by UN Women's manager, Adriana Carvalho; Carlos André, BB DTVM CEO (“BB Ações Equidade FIC”); Daniela Sabbag, Investor Relations director Pão de Açúcar Group; Denise Pavarina, B3’s Board member; Heloisa Bedicks, IBGC general superintendent; Sergio Wilson Ferraz Fontes, managing director at the Real Grandeza Foundation; and Sonia Favaretto, B3’s Media Relations, Sustainability and Communications, and Social Investment director, as moderator.

During the panel session, gender diversity issues were discussed in the areas of products, practices, board of directors, and development, as well the investor's position on the subject. "It is very important to have representatives from different sectors and various initiatives related to gender diversity when we have a discussion like this, so we can better understand how the market is addressing the agenda. How good it is to realize that we are going in the same direction towards gender equality," said Sonia Favaretto.

Sergio Rial, Santander CEO, closed the event with a "call to action". The bell ringing ceremony, which is quite traditional in the Brazilian capital markets, has undergone a significant change: the traditional song “Aquarela do Brasil”, which is played in all bell ringing events, was replaced by the song “Maria Maria” in honor of the International Women's Day.