Boardrooms 'lack women' says MP report

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated: 16:04 EST, 2 April 2010

The dearth of women in bank boardrooms may have spurred the rise of all-powerful chief executives in the run-up to the credit crisis, according to a report by MPs.

The Treasury Select Committee said 'group think' may have seeped into executive decision making because so few women rose to the top at City firms.

The gender imbalance may have 'made effective challenge and scrutiny of executive decisions less effective', according to the Women In The City study.

She means business: The report suggested that lack of women in board rooms meant decisions weren't always properly challenged

However, the 14-member committee, which contains just one woman MP, said it would be 'going too far' to suggest that higher female representation on bank boards would have prevented the crisis.