The Most Powerful Women in Banking

Stephanie Cohen has been at Goldman Sachs for more than 23 years. She started as an analyst in 1999 and has held a series of leadership positions in mergers and acquisitions. In January 2021, she was appointed global co-head of consumer and wealth management.

BMO Financial Group is poised for a dramatic expansion of its U.S. banking business later this year when it closes on its $16.3 billion acquisition of Bank of the West, the U.S. operations of BNP Paribas. Laying the groundwork for the merger is Erminia "Ernie" Johannson, BMO's group head for North American personal and business banking.

For much of last year, Titi Cole wore multiple hats. She was head of operations and fraud prevention for Citi's consumer bank, where she launched new fraud-detection capabilities, strengthened risk controls with enhanced governance oversight for issue and third-party management, and invested in controls automation and digital monitoring.

Sandy Pierce was in the midst of transforming how Huntington Bank delivered advisory services when her counterpart in the company's community banking unit left for a new job.

Making banking easier for every customer is the mission of Mary Mack, who leads 67,000 employees in Wells Fargo's consumer and small-business banking division. Last year, Mack led the app's relaunch, making it easier to use and more secure for Wells customers. "There are alerts and speed bumps along the way to prevent fraud," she says.