In comments reported by Bloomberg, the commissioner said that firms with women on their boards produce better returns, manage risk more effectively and prove more adept at attracting and retaining talent than those with male-dominated boardrooms.

Citing academic research and industry studies, he described diversity in the boardroom as "a business necessity that companies need to take seriously".

Mr Aguilar, who was speaking at a Women's Executive Circle of New York event, added: "I look forward to the day when corporate boards reflect the diversity of our nation."

He also said companies should improve their disclosure of diversity policies, as investors have made it clear they are "particularly interested" in this information.

Research has shown that women account for 17 per cent of board seats at companies in the Standard & Poor's 500, up from 13 per cent in 2002.

In an interview with business daily Les Echos, Mr Moscovici said legislative efforts will instead be concentrated on the introduction of a new 75 per cent tax on salaries above €1 million (£850,000), which will be paid by employers.

"We will not go beyond that: there will be no specific law on the governance of companies," the minister said.

The government had previously indicated that a cap on executive pay at private firms would be implemented at some point in the near future after new limits on remuneration at state-run organisations came into force last year.

With the French economy falling back into recession this month and unemployment at a record high, the decision to place a new tax burden on companies rather than individuals is likely to be highly unpopular with business figures.

According to the latest Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective survey, Norway continues to lead the way in terms of boosting diversity with quotas in place for 40 per cent female board appointments.

France, Italy and Belgium have also recently instigated similar measures, while outside the EU, India, Malaysia and parts of the Middle East are also performing strongly in this area.

Dan Konigsburg, managing director of the Deloitte Global Center for Corporate Governance, stated: "We believe that greater diversity -not just in gender but in background, in experience and in diversity of thought - makes for more effective teams of people."

The news follows the publication of a new 14-point 'roadmap for boardroom diversity' from WomenCorporateDirectors.

It suggests succession planning, a focus on younger appointments and educating directors on the importance of the issue are all key steps in boosting diversity.

Research by the member-based advisory firm CEB discovered that 51 per cent of business leaders think their workforces will shrink in 2013. Only 12 per cent said they expect headcounts to grow. 

The major reasons behind this are low expectations for top-line growth and an anticipated increase in labour costs. In light of this, organisations will expect even better performance from their existing employees.

Paul Dennis, senior director at CEB, commented: "In a market where most companies are cautious about hiring, chief financial officers are increasingly looking for higher levels of productivity and more valuable output from their people."

He added that with more companies choosing to operate with very lean structures, talent productivity is becoming an increasingly important source of competitive advantage.

The hiring outlook is most positive for IT companies, with 50 per cent of executives in this sector looking to take on more staff.

Financial legislation introduced in 2010 allowed shareholders to vote on directors' salaries and while the results are only advisory, more firms are taking this process on board, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports.

"Compensation committees and boards are definitely listening," Mel Fugate, a business professor at Southern Methodist University in Texas commented.

This has prompted more companies to make a greater amount of compensation packages linked to performance-based targets. 

"Say on pay has certainly made an impact on that as companies seek to demonstrate that their pay is aligned with performance," said Aaron Boyd of research firm Equilar.

However, only a small number of shareholder groups have actually rejected pay plans. 

Research by consulting firm Towers Watson found that pay votes have received an average approval rating of 91 per cent this year, up from 89 per cent in 2012.

Research by Hay Group and the Wall Street Journal discovered that total compensation packages at the country's 300 largest companies grew by a median of $10.1 million (£6.8 million) - this represents an increase of 3.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, base salaries expanded by 1.3 per cent to $1.15 million. 

Shareholder votes on executive pay are believed to have had an effect on the level of growth. 

"Companies sought to make their pay programmes more attractive to shareholders in 2012, structuring their executive compensation plans to clearly demonstrate alignment between pay and performance," commented Irv Becker, national practice leader of the US Executive Compensation Practice at Hay Group.

For only the second time in the history of the study, long-term performance plans were the most valuable area of pay packages, accounting for 31 per cent of the average CEO's total earnings.

A report by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) found that quarter one of this year saw a seven per cent rise in the number of new executive searches started compared to the preceding quarter. 

Meanwhile, there was a modest two per cent increase in worldwide search industry revenues. 

The North American market accounted for the greatest share of activity - 48.8 per cent - and the number of searches in this area was greater than in the first quarter of 2012.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, new searches increased by four per cent on the previous quarter and a similar amount of growth occurred in Asia Pacific and Central/South America.

AESC president Peter Felix commented: "Compared with the last quarter of 2012, these industry statistics are more encouraging and suggest a stabilisation of demand for executive search services and a slight up-tick in overall revenues worldwide."

Michel Barnier, the European Union’s financial services chief, has claimed he wants to give shareholders more power to veto compensation packages in a draft law later this year, Bloomberg reports.

In a statement that has been prepared for an event in Dublin today (May 16th) he said: "Lucrative severance packages for managers who have underperformed are the subject of increasing criticism.

"Shareholders now care about the relationship between executive compensation and the performance of the company."

The EU has already agreed to curb bankers' bonuses and Mr Barnier said his plans are partly inspired by a referendum in Switzerland on limiting these payments.

He has called for more transparency on remuneration and believes shareholders should be given a binding say on all forms of pay.

If brought into force, this new legislation would apply to all listed companies.

This was the verdict of a panel discussion at the recent Economic Transformation Programme event in Kuala Lumpur, Free Malaysia Today reports.

"Malaysia has 47 per cent women participation in the workforce and that is the lowest rate in south-east Asia," commented Johan Mahmood Merican, chief executive of talent management organisation Talentcorp Malaysia.

In 2011, the Malaysian government announced the introduction of a quota to ensure at least 30 per cent female representation at senior decision-making and boardroom level in companies by 2016.

However, Chin Suit Fang of PricewaterhouseCoopers, claimed this "measures quantity rather than quality".

Sugunah Verumandy, General Electric International Inc and Malaysia & Brunei Human Resource director, said the quota is useful in that it provides something to work towards, but only if it is tied with quality. 

She claimed that a mentoring or sponsorship programme could help businesswomen in the country further fulfil their ambitions.

Several hundred business leaders and innovators gathered at Stanford University last weekend (May 11th-12th) for the fourth annual Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit, abc news reports.

They discussed a variety of issues, ranging from politics to social media, but the overwhelming message of the event was that more needs to be done to increase the amount of Hispanic men and women in executive roles. 

Currently, just 173 of the 5,488 Fortune 500 boardroom seats are held by Latinos.

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, commented: "The road to the White House goes through the barrio, but that is not good enough. We're falling behind."

He claimed that not enough members of the Hispanic community vote in government elections and if this was increased it could help to boost Latino representation throughout the US.