The US Securities and Exchange Commmission and other federal financial regulators have published a paper about the ways in which they expect to assess the policies and practices of the entities they regulate in respect of women and ethnic groups.

The policy paper, which is vague about what the agencies mean by the word 'diversity,' does not create any new legal obligations in and of itself.

Section 342 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010 required the Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) at each agency to be responsible for all matters relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activities.  The Dodd-Frank Act also instructed each OMWI director to develop standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of the agencies’ regulated entities.

The paper contains 'standards' which are designed to govern the way in which regulated entities create and strengthen their "diversity policies and practices". These include workforce/employment practices and procurement/business practices. 'Super equivalence' is not necessary; in other words, these standards are to apply only to the US operations of private banks, asset managers and other financial firms.

The policy statement marks the end of extensive consultation. The agencies say that it will become 'effective' - a strange word to use about something that has no legal force - once it is published in the Federal Register.

In addition to this, the agencies are asking for public comments on how financial firms should be made to collect information under the Paperwork Reduction Act.