In recent years, legal regulations have led to the growing importance of promoting diversity and inclusion.
The German Management Positions Act II (Führungspositionengesetz II) represents the third round of gender equality promoted by law. Since the proportion of women on the Supervisory Board is already 45 per cent (as of 12/2021) and with two female members on the Board of Managing Directors the required minimum representation has been met here as well; only new target quotas for the two management levels below the Board of Managing Directors were adopted in 2021. Both management levels are subject to a target quota of 25 per cent by the end of 2026.
The European Accessibility Act (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz), which was introduced in July 2021, subjects companies to an obligation to offer their products and services largely barrier-free by mid-of 2025. With the Action Plan for Inclusion based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we published in July 2018, the topic of inclusion of people with disabilities has been on Commerzbank's agenda for a long time. With a Bank-wide project, we will also ensure that inclusion a reality for our customers. The Bank's online applications and our ATMs are already largely barrier-free.
With the amendment of our works agreement on partnership-based conduct in the workplace in 2021, we have extended our rules and values to all fields of action of diversity management. In particular, on the topic of racism, the Bank's stance was clearly outlined due to the worldwide events.
Some time ago, the German Law on Civil Status (Personenstandsgesetz) was expanded to include the option of choosing a "third option". Commerzbank has, for example, adapted the application portal and the communication concept in job advertisements. In addition, Commerzbank supports transgender employees, colleagues, HR managers and managers in procedural and organisational issues relating to the topic of trans-identity. We also want to include the diversity of people who work in and are connected to the Bank with the use of inclusive language, which is why the Bank has decided to recommend the use in internal communication for an initial pilot period of one year.
