The NCUA, the Fed, the OCC, the FDIC, the CFPB, and the SEC havecollectively proposed “Joint Standards for Assessing the DiversityPolicies and Practices” for entities that are regulated by theagencies.

“The proposed standards are intended to promote transparency andawareness of the diversity policies and practices of regulatedentities and to provide guidance to the regulated entities and thepublic for assessing these diversity policies and practices,” saida press release on Thursday.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of2010 required each agency to establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, which hadto develop standards for assessing the diversity policies andpractices of the entities its agency regulates.

The proposed standards focus on four categories includingorganizational commitment to diversity and inclusion; workforceprofile and employment practices; procurement and businesspractices—supplier diversity; and practices to promote transparencyof organizational diversity and inclusion.

Some of the standards included are that an entity should take“proactive steps to promote a diverse pool of candidates, includingwomen and minorities, in its hiring, recruiting, retention, andpromotion, as well as in its selection of board members, seniormanagement, and other senior leadership positions.”

A regulated entity should also “prepare annual AffirmativeAction Plans as required by Executive Order 11246 under thejurisdiction of the OFCCP use those plans to evaluate and assessworkforce diversity and inclusion efforts.”

In addition, the entity should hold management accountable forits diversity and inclusion efforts. “The proposed standards arenot mandates, nor do they require any action based on the findingsof an assessment,” said the release.

“In developing these standards, the Agencies took intoaccount individual entities' circumstances (for example, asset sizeof the entity, number of employees, governance structure, income,number of members and/or customers, contract volume, geographiclocation, and community characteristics). We seek commentsspecifically on how we might better take into account individualentities' circumstances, especially for small regulated entities,”the policy statement said.

The agencies are requesting comment on the standards through December 24, 2013.

“To avoid duplication, the Agencies request that commenters notsubmit the same comment to more than one Agency. The Agencies willshare comments with each other, as appropriate,” said the policystatement.