State Street Global Advisors, one of the largest investment firms in the country, is reportedly requiring company leaders to ask for special permission to hire white men for roles within the company. There is no such permission is needed to hire people of other racial profiles.

According to reports, recruiters who seek to fill middle-ranking positions — which the Sunday Times defined as those at the “at senior Vice-President level or higher” — are required to “assemble a panel consisting of four to five people, one woman, and ideally someone from a different race.”

A spokesperson for State Street defended the company’s policy, saying the company is attempting to increase diversity in its senior and middle management. Executives will receive lower bonuses if they do not meet strong equality targets. It has set a goal to triple the number of black, Asian, and other minorities staff in senior positions by 2023.

Jess McNicholas from State Street’s head of inclusion, diversity, and corporate citizenship told the Times, “this is now front-and-cent for State Street — this is on every senior executive’s scorecard… All our leaders must show at their annual appraisals how they have improved female representation and the number of colleagues from ethnic minorities.”

Though The Sunday Times quoted a State Street official, the bank issued a statement denying that company leaders would require special approval to hire white men.

The Telegraph reported that State Street is committed to equity and inclusion and believes it to be a crucial component of its business success. Despite the requirement to avoid hiring white men, State Street’s official response was, “We expect our hiring managers have the best possible list of candidates for their open jobs.”

The statement said that they work to create an equal playing field for all candidates and to make sure that hiring decisions are informed and objective in order to hire the best candidates for each job.

The firm’s official response is that hiring managers are not required to approve the hiring of a person with a particular background or characteristic. The spokesperson said, “We include a process that allows for challenges to make sure that the decision is fair and impartial. This will ensure that the job hires the best candidate.”

McNichols said State Street is pledging to hold itself “accountable for strengthening black and Latinx owned businesses.” A note worthy of a Facebook meme from Babylon Bee is that a Pew Research Center poll conducted last year found that only one in four Hispanics are familiar with the absurd term “Latinx,” and even less than three percent of Hispanics use it.

State Street Global Advisors is the investment management division at State Street Corporation. It is headquartered in Boston. The company has nearly $3.59 trillion of listed assets under management. It employs nearly 40,000 people and has more than 30 offices around the world.

Fox News reported that State Street made headlines when it ordered the statue of a girl looking down Wall Street’s “Charging bull” sculpture to commemorate International Women’s Day 2017. Later renamed, “Fearless Girl”, State Street commissioned the installation of the statue to celebrate and advertise its “gender diversity index fund”. Netflix, Salesforce, Nike, PayPal, and Visa are among some of the top companies in this fund.