MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The proportion of women on the management boards of Germany's 40 largest listed companies rose from 19 to 22.7 percent last year. This is according to an evaluation of the personnel consultancy Russell Reynolds with a cut-off date of January 1, which was published over the weekend. Last year, more women than men were appointed to the boards of directors. Two Dax companies - Siemens Healthineers and Fresenius Medical Care - even had a 50 percent share of women, it said.

The law, which requires listed companies with equal representation on the board to have at least one woman on the board with more than three board members, is having a rapid and significant effect, said consultant Jens-Thomas Pietralla. Only four DAX companies still had no women on their boards. Half of the female board members were recruited from within the company, he said. More women are also being appointed to positions with responsibility for results, instead of mainly to the human resources department, as was previously the case. This shows "that the cultural change has arrived, at least in the largest German companies, and is beginning to bear fruit. The proportion of German nationals on DAX boards has fallen from 67 to 63 percent.

In the 50 mid-sized public companies listed on the M-DAX, the proportion of women on the boards rose from 11.7 to 13.7 percent, according to Russell Reynolds. Half of the M-DAX companies are led only by men, he added./rol/DP/jha