25 Women To Watch: 16-20

16. Kelly Mathieson
Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase

With global responsibility for JPMorgan Chase's custody and clearance business, Kelly Mathieson oversees a group where assets under custody exceed U.S. GNP, and where $2 trillion is cleared daily to support the activities of global investment banks, broker-dealers and the primary dealers of U.S. securities. Last October, she took on additional duties managing direct custody and clearing, foreign exchange and cash for a new investor services business, housed within the Worldwide Securities Services division.

But where Mathieson really shines is in applying her markets expertise to niche areas such as microfinance (in 2004 she addressed the U.N. General Assembly on the impact of microlending) and in serving as a problem solver who can help her firm get a handle on transformational changes affecting the business.

In Europe, she has met with regulators drafting new rules for alternative investment fund managers, as the measures could have a substantial impact not just on the funds but on their custodian banks. Here at home, she has been a vocal proponent of reforms to the tri-party repo market, and sits on a New York Fed task force on the issue. She also has dealt with regulators on the crafting of the Volcker rule.

17. Janice Fukakusa
Chief Administrative Officer And CFO, Royal Bank Of Canada

Janice Fukakusa will tell you she wasn't a conventional choice for either of her two main jobs at Royal Bank of Canada. Though her long tenure with the company had spanned a wide range of businesses and corporate functions-retail banking, corporate banking, audit, strategic development-she didn't have an extensive background in finance or in technology and operations, all of which are under her purview as CFO and chief administrative officer for Canada's largest financial services institution.

But straying from her comfort zone has once again paid off. Fukakusa is one of nine senior executives responsible for overall management of the bank, and she is a key spokesperson for the company in front of investors, regulators and clients.

As CFO, she led the company's conversion this year from Canadian GAAP to International Financial Reporting Standards, a complex switch in accounting standards.

On the technology and operations side, she has championed green solutions that have helped to lower costs. A server decommissioning program, for example, reduced energy needs in the company's data centers, while offering a Web version of the annual report, complete with video and interactive content, substantially lowered printing and mailing costs. The expense reductions have been a big priority for Fukakusa.

She chairs an RBC committee responsible for slashing annual expense growth by 50 percent, something the company is on target to accomplish by 2014. She also played a big role in the divestiture of RBC Bank USA, which was sold this year to PNC Financial Services Group for $3.5 billion.

Fukakusa is involved in a long list of nonprofits, including the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation and United Way. She also got RBC involved in WEConnect Canada, which certifies women-owned firms and connects female entrepreneurs with businesses looking for diverse suppliers.