The Latest from Women in Banking

Dispatched to Charlotte, N.C., after Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia, Laura Schulte has played a central role in making Wells a major retail force throughout the eastern half of the country.

As she continues to help guide Comerica to the financial performance targets she established for the company, Karen Parkhill will take on a brand new challenge: preparing Comerica to join the list of large bank holding companies stress tested each year by the Federal Reserve.

Righting the ship at Bank of America is a monumental task, and employee engagement is crucial. That's where Andrea Smith comes in.

The tireless Peyton Patterson says she has a five-year strategic plan for Connecticut's BNC Financial. If the first 12 months of her tenure are any indication, it's going to be a busy five years.

With designs on expanding its commercial business from Southern California to Washington state, and perhaps points beyond, Union Bank in July announced it was putting Ardalan in charge of commercial banking for its western region.

With the future of Fannie and Freddie still up in the air, Diana Reid has spent significant time strategizing for the different possible outcomes. It would have been easy to get engulfed by all the contingency planning, but Reid has kept a steady hand on deals in the pipeline.

Theresa McLaughlin has substantial credibility as a marketer. Time magazine put one of the TV spots for Citizens Bank on a Top 10 list, and her work for Horizons for Homeless Children received an Emmy. At least as valuable to RBS Citizens is the holistic approach that McLaughlin brings to problem-solving.

Amy Brady, Keycorp's new technology and operations chief, has quickly brought an "on time, on budget" philosophy to the Cleveland-based company, which previously struggled with the delivery of strategic projects.

Patti Husic, absent from our ranking last year, returns after making a series of bold moves at the $311 million-asset bank she runs in Harrisburg, Pa., and at the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, which she began chairing in July.

Collen Taylor's goal this year for the treasury management division of Capital One has been nothing less than the complete transformation of the group's service and support models.