The women who are bank CEOs

The banking industry should get coal in its stocking this year. 

There are 4,071 FDIC insured banks and fewer than 5% of publicly traded banks have a female CEO. At the same time, more than half of bank employees are women. Jane Fraser, the CEO of Citi since March 2021, is the only woman to helm one of the 50 largest banks in the country.

The number of female CEOs dwindled this year, due to job changes and missed opportunities. 

Nandita Bakhshi's seven-year stint as a CEO came to a halt last February when BMO completed its acquisition of Bank of the West. (Read her exit interview here.) And Kelly Coffey, CEO of City National, was essentially demoted in November when the bank's parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland, appointed a 17-year Fifth Third executive as CEO. (Coffey is now the CEO of the bank's entertainment unit, a newly created role.) 

And two large banks missed their chance to name a female CEO. When the CEO of Morgan Stanley announced he was stepping down, the three contenders for the job were men. (The job ultimately went to Ted Pick, and in a rare move, the other two contenders are staying at the bank.)  And Ally Financial passed over Diane Morais, the head of consumer and commercial banking, to replace outgoing CEO Jeffrey Brown. Shortly after the announcement, Morais said she will be leaving the bank on July 1st.  

Let's hope that the new year will usher in more female CEOs. Here's our list, in order of asset size.