Nearly 70 businesses have been told to increase the number of women on their boards by 2020.
Following a government review launched in 2016, financial trade body, the Investment Association, wrote to 69 businesses, including Domino's, JD Sports and Greene King, calling for them to have at least a third of their senior directors to be women by 2020.
If they fail to do so, the Hampton-Alexander review warned it would flag the businesses to investors over their lack of diversity.
Of the 69 highlighted in the report, 66 have just one female member on their board. Daejan Holdings, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels and TR Property Investment Trust have none at all.
Investment Association boss, Chris Cummings, said: "Companies must do more than take the tokenistic step of appointing just one woman to their board and consider that job done.
"There is also compelling evidence that boards with greater gender balance outperform their less diverse peers."
Sir Philip Hampton, who led the review, said the number of women on boards "does not reflect the population of very talented women capable of making great contributions in boardrooms".
