Frustration at the slow progress of gender equality initiatives in financial services could mark out 2017 as a turning point in women’s acceptance of compulsory quotas.

Five years ago, 65% of respondents to Financial News’ Women in Finance Survey said they did not support governments introducing mandatory quotas on the number of women at board level. By 2016, when survey participants had a choice of 'Yes', 'No' and 'No, I don't support compulsory quotas but I would support a more informal target', demand for compulsion dropped further, from 35% to 31%.