Norwegian law now requires publicly listed corporations to have at least 40 percent women on their boards of directors. The legislation was actually introduced in 2003, but gave companies five years to bring more women onto their boards with a January 1, 2008 deadline...Norway now ranks the highest for women on corporate boards. Under the law, companies that failed to comply by the deadline would be forced to close their doors...Currently, almost 38% of board members are female, compared to 15.5% when the legislation was initially introduced. However, women comprise only 4% of board chairs.