The Most Powerful Women in Banking

It was one thing for Margaret Keane to lead the retail finance arm of GE Capital before it spun off from its parent company, General Electric. But completing the separation from GE in November 2015 was a wake-up call.

Networks are a big deal for Diane Offereins in more ways than one. When she's not busy running a worldwide card payments network, Offereins is often advocating for women's networking.

Since becoming President and CEO of PNC Capital Markets in 2002, Charlotte McLaughlin has been building up what had been a dormant business, making capital markets a profitable and strategically important part of PNC Financial Services Group.

Candace Browning has two very important roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch — both related to research. Not only does she oversee research for the investment bank, she also spearheads some of its work to evaluate innovative fintech startups.

Even with more than 250,000 applicants for its summer program and analyst classes each year, Goldman Sachs questioned whether it was doing enough to foster diversity in the pool of hopefuls. That's why Edith Cooper, its global head of human capital management, is leading an effort to refine the way it finds talent.