The Most Powerful Women in Banking

For three consecutive years, HSBC has ranked first in Bloomberg's Latin American bonds league table under the guidance of Katia Bouazza, who has earned one of the highest profiles of any investment banker, male or female, in the region.

Two years ago, JPMorgan Chase asked Catherine Keating to transfer her private bank experience over to the institutional investment side of the house. She's delivered not only with solid numbers but has done so by incorporating a key aspect of private banking: segmentation.

For Liz Myers and team at J.P. Morgan, the first half of the year was dominated by large IPOs, with the firm underwriting 20 transactions that raised more than $1 billion apiece, including the $5 billion offering from the insurance subsidiary of Banco de Brazil.

With its announced purchase of the Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group, Grosvenor Capital Management will not just nearly double its assets under management, it also will gain the services of one of the most high-profile names in private equity and fund-of-funds management in Kelly Williams.

With a prime role in two global exchange mergers last year, Caroline Silver has no problem with name recognition in the sector. As Michael Overlander, the CEO of derivatives broker Sucden Financial told Bloomberg last year, "Her name should be changed to Caroline Gold."