Press Release: CITI IS FIRST U.S. BANK TO RESPOND TO SHAREHOLDER PRESSURE TO CLOSE GENDER PAY GAP
Citigroup Reaches Historic Agreement in Banking Sector to Disclose Wage Data and Adjust Employee Salaries in Company-wide Effort to Achieve Gender Pay Equity; Arjuna Capital Withdraws Gender Pay Shareholder Resolution, after BofA, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Citi, MasterCard, and AmEx Rejection of Such Proposals in 2017.
Boston and New York City, January 15, 2018 – Citigroup and Arjuna Capital disclosed today that Citi is taking steps to provide gender and ethnicity wage data and commit to closing the gap, making it the first U.S. bank to respond to shareholder concerns. In response to Citi’s steps, Arjuna Capital withdrew its gender pay shareholder proposal on Monday, January 15, 2018.
Citi’s announcement represents a major shift for U.S. banks and credit card companies, since no financial services company so far targeted by shareholders for gender pay has taken such action.
Bank of America, MasterCard, American Express, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and Citi all rejected proposals in 2017 asking for detailed reports on the percentage pay gap between male and female employees across race and ethnicity, including base, bonus and equity compensation, policies to address that gap, the methodology used, and quantitative reduction targets.
To date, Citi is the first bank targeted to respond with quantitative reporting.
The Arjuna Capital gender pay shareholder resolution at Citi is available online at: (https://arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/C-Shareholder-Proposal_Gender-Pay-Equity-11132018.pdf). The Arjuna Capital letter withdrawing the gender pay resolution at Citi is available at: (http://216.30.191.148/citiwithdrawal/Citigroup_Withdrawal_Letter_01.15.18.pdf).
In a memo posted to its website, Citi said: “At Citi, our continuing focus on pay equity furthers our goal of being the employer of choice for employees of diverse backgrounds, and it supports our efforts to attract and retain the best talent and reward performance consistent with our Leadership Standards. These are clear business imperatives for Citi, and we remain firmly committed to them.”
A public announcement by Citi is available at: http://citigroup.com/citi/diversity/people.html
Natasha Lamb, managing partner, Arjuna Capital said: “Citigroup is stepping into a leadership role on the gender pay gap that we have not seen from any of its US financial peers. This is a tipping point for the Wall Street Banks. We expect women will not only receive the pay they deserve at Citi, the company will reap the benefits of talent acquisition and retention so that more women can move into leadership. Other leading banks can either follow Citi’s example on gender pay or risk further laggard status on issues of concern to women.”
Arjuna Capital – the investment firm that took the lead in 2016 by getting seven tech companies to disclose their gender pay gaps –filed nine shareholder proposals for the 2018 proxy season, asking Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, AmEx, Mastercard, Reinsurance Group, and Progressive Insurance to publish the companies’ policies and goals to reduce the gender pay gap.
The financial services sector has been under scrutiny for a lack of female representation in senior roles, despite a majority of female employees. In the UK, where employers are required to publish their gender pay gaps by April, banking peers have been called out for among the largest median pay gaps, 24% on average.
Arjuna Capital is an investment firm focused on sustainable and impact investing. Lamb and Arjuna Capital have been recognized for using shareholder resolutions to promote gender pay equity in the tech, banking, and retail sectors. Natasha Lamb was named to the “Bloomberg 50” list of influencers who defined global business in 2017. For more information, visit www.Arjuna-Capital.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (202) 441-7647 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.