The Most Powerful Women to Watch

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This year’s Most Powerful Women to Watch has one of the more pressure-filled jobs in banking.

Ellen Patterson is the general counsel at Wells Fargo, part of a leadership team whose primary focus is restoring credibility with regulators following a slew of scandals and getting out from under a 2018 enforcement order that essentially prohibits the company from growing.

Patterson, who was general counsel at TD Bank before joining Wells Fargo in March 2020, has appeared in the Most Powerful Women rankings for at least half a decade. But this is her first appearance in the top spot of this list.

Joining her on the list this year are six newcomers, including Wells Fargo’s Kristy Fercho, Citi’s Titi Cole, Zions Bancorp.’s Olga Hoff, HSBC’s Tara Latini, Synovus Financial's Katherine Weislogel and UMB Financial's Shannon Johnson.

HSBC and Citigroup have the most representatives on the Watch list, with three each.

Scroll through to see the full list of our Most Powerful Women to Watch for 2021.

Also be sure to check out:

• The Most Powerful Women in Banking
• The Most Powerful Women in Finance
• The Most Powerful Women in Banking: Standouts
• The Most Powerful Women in Banking: Teams