Despite government mandates requiring public companies to appoint women directors, female representation on bank boards remains minimal, with some commercial banks lacking any female directors. This shortfall is primarily attributed to banks' failure to implement the Companies Act provision. Section 86 (2) of the Companies Act mandates that a public company's board should consist of at least three members and at most 11 members, with at least one female director for companies with female shareholders. The annual supervision report of Nepal Rastra Bank underscores commercial banks' non-compliance with this mandate, noting that some banks do not have any female directors as required by the Companies Act. Data collected by New Business Age reveals that four out of the 19 commercial banks currently in operation do not have any female directors. Among these banks, two have foreign investment (Standard Chartered and Himalayan), while two have only domestic investment (Global IME and Prabhu Bank). Additionally, 13 banks have only one female director each.

Government-invested commercial banks each have one woman on their boards. Notably, Gita Subedi serves as an expert director at Agricultural Development Bank, Romila Dhakal Upreti at Rastriya Banijya Bank, and Sadhana Ghimire represents the government of Nepal Bank Limited. Among private banks, Nepal SBI Bank and Laxmi Sunrise Bank have two women each on their boards. Jayanti Banshal chairs Nepal SBI Bank, while Apsara Upreti serves as a director. Similarly, Swati Rungta and Bidya Basnet are directors of Laxmi Sunrise Bank. The remaining banks have one female director each. Notable among them are Asha Rana Adhikari at Nabil Bank, Meena Kumari Sainju at Siddharth Bank, Taradevi Chitrakar at Prime Bank, and Manju Basnet at Nepal Investment Mega Bank. Furthermore, representing general shareholders, Bandana Karki serves as a director at Machhapuchhre Bank, Bijaya Swar at NIC Asia Bank, Gayatri Thapa at Sanima Bank, Simran Aggarwal at Kumari Bank, Urmila Shrestha at Everest Bank, and Sharmila Hardi at NMB Bank. The proposed amendment to the Banks and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) aims to bolster female representation by mandating two women on bank boards—one from the shareholders and one from the expert group.