The Most Powerful Women in Banking

The statistics are dismal: Last year, just 16% of board seats at S&P 1500 companies were held by women, less than the percentage held by directors named John, Robert, James and William. But plenty of women are working to change that, including quite a few in our rankings.

KeyCorp's Beth Mooney tops the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking list; the 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance list is led by Mary Callahan Erdoes at JPMorgan Chase; and Jane Fraser at Citigroup heads the 25 Women to Watch list.

One of the things that struck me in getting to know the women in our rankings better is that some of them have had significant career setbacks along the way. But they exude confidence anyway, because they have learned how to be fearless.

Confidence, accountability and a willingness to take risks are common traits among highly motivated executives. But true power comes from execution, says HSBC's North American CEO, who advises women to "be in it to win it."

Studies are showing that companies predominantly led by women perform better than those led by men; worldwide trends are showing a continuing uptick in the number of women on boards, but they still account for less than 20% of directors.