The employment ratio for females has increased dramatically across a selection of OECD countries over the past four decades. Data on ethnicity are harder to obtain, but there have been improvements in employment rates among foreign-born residents in many countries over the past 15 years. Numbers of women and ethnic minorities in senior positions have also increased. The Davies Review recently found that the UK has now reached its target of 25% female board representation among FTSE-100 companies, having doubled in less than 5 years. 58 Although progress has been made, there are a number of areas where we still fall short. In the UK, the employment rate for those with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds is still materially lower than for the population at large. 59 Women still only account for a third of employment in higher managerial roles in the UK. Although the pay gap has fallen, average pay for men in the UK remains almost 20% higher than for women. 60 And male CEOs across European public companies earn on average over 30% more than their female equivalents. 61 The Bank has itself made good progress over recent years. For example, we currently have 43% female representation across the organisation and we are working towards a 50/50 gender split by 2020. At senior management levels, 27% are women with a target to boost this number further. If we rewind 10 years, the equivalent figure would have been only 7%.
Denis Beau: The digitalisation of the financial sector - new challenges, new levers Closing speech by Mr Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, at the 4th Assises des Technologies Financières, 30 September 2021. * * * Ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to thank the President, Eric Woerth, for inviting me to close these 4th Assises des Technologies Financières, and to provide my insight, as a central banker and supervisor, into the challenges posed by the digitalisation of financial services. In the framework of our mission to safeguard monetary and financial stability, the main issue for the Banque de France is how we can facilitate and accompany the digitalisation of the financial sector, which is a source of efficiency gains, while at the same time preserving the stability of our monetary and financial system. In order to present the concrete responses we are trying to bring to this issue, I shall start by reminding you of the new challenges posed by digitalisation to the safety and efficiency of the financial sector, before describing the three main areas where we are working to  respond, in line with our mandate. I. The digitalisation of the financial sector poses new challenges  A) In terms of security, one of the main concerns raised by the current digital transformation of the financial system is IT or cyber-risk. The digital transformation considerably increases financial system participants’ surface area of exposure to cyber-threats, and hence their vulnerability to such risk.