The Most Powerful Women in Banking

After 40 years on the job, Catherine "Cathy" Pombier Bessant is well ensconced among the sparse but growing ranks of senior stateswomen in finance. Bank of America's global technology and operations executive for 12 years and its vice chair of global strategy since September 2021, Bessant has topped American Banker's list of the Most Powerful Women in Banking three years in a row, from 2017 to 2019, and was inducted into AB's Hall of Fame in 2020.

When Peetz joined Citi in 2020, she was returning to work after three and a half years of retirement from a career that included leadership positions at Bank of New York Mellon, where she led the financial markets and treasury services group, and at JPMorgan Chase, where she had a variety of commercial lending, sales, and management positions.

Over the past year, Jane Fraser, Citi's first female CEO in the firm's history, completed a strategy refresh at the world's most global bank. Despite an implausibly volatile geopolitical environment, she steered Citi to robust first quarter 2022 earnings—returning $4 billion to shareholders, while commanding 200,000 employees globally, and serving millions of consumers and businesses across 95 countries.

Having run both businesses and client-relationship organizations, Emily Portney, chief financial officer of BNY Mellon, brings a well- rounded vision to her oversight of the firm's finance functions, which include tax, treasury, capital management and investor relations — where she regularly articulates and advocates the value of the franchise to the public.

Maria Hackley, managing director and global co-head of industrials, banking, capital markets and advisory at Citi, understands how crucial it is for bankers to create strong, original content to distinguish themselves during client presentations.