Lloyds Ethnic Diversity Plan Is ‘Credit Positive,’ Moody’s Says

(Bloomberg) --

Lloyds Banking Group Plc’s effort to improve staff diversity has been called “credit positive” by Moody’s Investors Service, in a sign of the increasing importance placed on ethnic diversity in the workplace.

Measures outlined in the U.K bank’s “Race Action’’ plan, which includes promoting more black employees to senior roles and publishing an ethnicity pay gap report this year, are “credit positive because they will improve staff diversity at all levels and reduce Lloyds’ exposure to social risk,” according to a Moody’s report published July 23.

The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May has spurred Black Lives Matter protests all over the world, prompting public companies including Lloyds to review their approach to diversity and inclusion. Black employees currently account for 1.5% of the firm’s total workforce and 0.6% of its senior management, the bank said this month.

“The underrepresentation in financial services of ethnic minorities, and in particular black staff, and at senior level, is a social issue that is subject to increasing scrutiny by investors, regulators, and politicians in several countries,” Moody’s said in its report.

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