The purpose of Law No. 21,757 ("Law"), published in the Official Gazette on August 19, 2025, is to establish a mechanism to increase the participation of women on the boards of directors of open stock corporations and special stock corporations by incorporating 2 new articles and 3 new paragraphs to Article 31 of Law No. 18,046 on Corporations ("Law No. 18,046").
The Law will be implemented gradually until 2032 and its regulations will become effective as of January 1, 2026.
The following is a brief summary of the mechanism established by the Law to increase the participation of women on these boards:
- Maximum proportion by gender: no gender may exceed 60% of the members of the Board of Directors (gradual: 80% between 2026-2028; 70% between 2029-2031; 60% from 2032).
- Financial Market Commission ("CMF") oversight: every 4 years it will verify overall market compliance (80% of companies complying with the rule and less than 5% with single-sex boards). If these goals are not met, the proportion rule becomes mandatory with sanctions in case of non-compliance.
- Public tenders: companies that comply with the ratio are presumed to promote gender equality, which may benefit their evaluation in tenders.
- Advisory Committee: an interministerial committee is created to coordinate policies that promote equity in the boards of directors.
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