Japanese Banks Face ‘Gender Washing’ Spotlight on Its Managers

  • Regulator is compiling survey of female managers at lenders
  • Japan seeks to improve its record on managerial diversity
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Some Japanese banks may soon come under the spotlight for potential “gender washing” over the way they count the number of women in management positions.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency found a big discrepancy in responses from a regional bank survey of female managers. One group of lenders reported that women hold less than 10% of management roles, while for another group in the same survey, it was closer to 20%, according to Tatsufumi Shibata, the senior agency official in charge of regional financial institutions.