Glencore: Woman joins all-male board

Glencore, the last British blue-chip company with an all-male board, has appointed Canadian Patrice Merrin as its first female director. The commodity trader and mining group had come under fire from some shareholders over its apparent failure to follow recommendations in a 2011 British government review that called for more women on company boards. The Davies review set a target for women to fill a quarter of board positions at all FTSE 100 firms by 2015. Last month Glencore chairman Tony Hayward said the company would appoint a female director this year. Since the review, which did not call for formal quotas, female representation on FTSE 100 boards had risen to 20.7 percent by March, from 12.5 percent in 2011. – Reuters