The Most Powerful Women in Banking

First Sound Bank in Seattle has recruited chief financial and administrative officers from rival banks.

Ally Bank CEO Diane Morais talks about rolling out mortgages and credit cards; there’s talk of putting Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the Supreme Court; the judge in the MetLife SIFI case talks tough to FSOC; the Mean Girls talk really has to go; and how corporate directors talk about the lack of women on boards (warning: men think there aren’t a lot of qualified women, but, um, could that be because their network is mostly male?).

To curb the loss of female talent, one Wall Street firm plans to remedy the pay gap. Islamic finance is notoriously male-dominated, but one country is an exception. Australia's ANZ Bank is inspiring a lot of soul-searching on sexism in the financial services industry. Would things improve with SEC reporting on diversity? Or do we need quotas?

The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., named Sepideh Behram to the role of chief compliance officer. Her hiring comes as the $4.8 billion-asset company works to shore up its risk and compliance management.

The U.S. could be the next country to introduce gender quotas for corporate board members and nominees.