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Fun was the operative word at the awards dinner for the Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance, which took place Oct. 8 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

If you need some photographic evidence, check out this slideshow, which starts here with Dorothy Savarese being playful on the red carpet.

Savarese, who is on the banking list, is the president and CEO of the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank and incoming chairman of the industry trade group American Bankers Association.

(All images by Doug Goodman)

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From left, Frederick Waddell, Jana Schreuder, John Mack, Gail Freeman and John Hoffman.

Waddell is Northern Trust's chairman and CEO, and Schreuder is its chief operating officer.

Mack, the former chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, is now on the board of Lending Club, whose CFO Carrie Dolan is on the finance list.

Freeman and Hoffman are both from Northern Trust. Freeman is a wealth adviser and Hoffman is a group managing director.

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Beth Mooney, CEO of KeyCorp, strikes a fun pose with her team.

Mooney is in the center and Key's other two honorees are to each side of her, Amy Brady on the left and Amy Carlson on the right.

Mooney, who is No. 1 on the banking list, gave a speech at the event, in which she said that the most powerful women are not just stewards of change, but stewards of chance. She told the women they got to where they are because someone gave them a chance, and she urged them to create a virtuous circle by helping other women succeed.

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Patti Husic, president and CEO of Centric Bank, and her fiancé, Scott Granger, check out their red carpet photos on the monitor.

Husic, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, is on the banking list.

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PNC Chairman and CEO Bill Demchak, at center, with, from left, Janice Ellig of the executive search firm Chadick Ellig, Sandie O'Connor and Marianne Lake, both of JPMorgan Chase, and Mariana Coontz, of Synchrony Financial.

Lake, who moved up to No. 2 on the banking list this year, spoke at the event. (See Lake's full speech here.)

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From left, Yvette Hollingsworth Clark, of Wells Fargo, chats with Nandita Bakhshi, of TD, and Shiv Bakhshi.

The two women are on the cover of the October issue of American Banker Magazine. Both are new to the Women to Watch list.

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The Santander crew, from left, Michael Cleary, Helen Mazzitelli, Maria Tedesco, Angela Moultrie and Darlene Frizzell.
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PNC's honorees, from left, Diana Reid, Karen Larrimer and Charlotte McLaughlin get a photo together on the red carpet.

PNC is represented in all three rankings. Reid is on the watch list, Larrimer the banking list and McLaughlin the finance list.

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FirstMerit's Brian Williams, Sandy Pierce, Julie Tutkovics, David Goodall and Marilyn Lochner.

Pierce, the chairman and CEO of FirstMerit's Michigan operations, is among the banking honorees for the second consecutive year. She chaired Detroit's Financial Advisory Board as it helped guide the city through the worst of its financial crisis.

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At the Zions Bancorp. table, Lori Chillingworth, far left, shares a laugh with LeeAnne Linderman. Chillingworth is the winner of the Community Impact Award this year, and Linderman is on the watch list.

The men in the photo are, from left, Geoff Chillingworth, Lori's husband; Chris Linderman, LeeAnne's husband; and (partially shown) Scott Anderson, the president and CEO of Zions First National Bank.

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JPMorgan Chase's Thasunda Duckett brought her husband and daughter to the event. She says it's never too early to expose your daughter to strong role models.
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Olivia Reyes also got some exposure to strong role models, courtesy of HSBC's Diane Reyes.
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BNY Mellon President Karen Peetz, seated at center, with a table full of colleagues. Peetz is high on the banking list once again this year.
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Margaret Keane, the president and CEO of Synchrony Financial, at center, deep in dinner conversation.

Keane, No. 6 on the finance list, is in the midst of spinning off the private-label credit card company from its parent GE, as detailed in this feature story.

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Peter Sidebottom of PwC presents Pat Callahan of Wells Fargo with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In her speech, Callahan, who had been with Wells Fargo for 38 years before she retired as its chief administrative officer in August, said she disagreed with a McKinsey study that found, at the current pace, it will take more than 100 years to close the gender gap in the C-suite. "We're going to get this right much sooner than that," she said.

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Wells had a large contingent at the event, including this group from its Wells Fargo Securities unit, from left, Paul Jeanne, Todd Wickwire, Diane Schumaker-Krieg and Stanley Krieg.

Schumaker-Krieg, Wells' global head of research, economics and strategy, is on the finance list.

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Guests at the HSBC table raise a glass to toast the honorees.
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Christine Pierson and Begonya Klumb are all smiles.

Klumb, the CEO for healthcare services at UMB Financial, was one of the 25 Women to Watch this year. Pierson, formerly of UMB, was on the watch list in 2014.

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Accepting the team awards for their companies are, from left: Andrea Smith, chief administrative officer, Bank of America; Alexandra Dousmanis-Curtis, group head, U.S. retail and business banking, BMO Harris Bank; Jill Castilla, president and CEO, Citizens Bank of Edmond (Okla.); Jennie Carlson, EVP Human Resources, U.S. Bancorp; Christie Richards, EVP, director of private and executive banking, Zions First National Bank.
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From left, Stacey Friedman, Tiffany Harris and Mandy Norton, all of JPMorgan Chase.

Friedman is on the watch list because she's about to become general counsel for the $2.5 trillion-asset company. She is currently general counsel for its corporate and investment banking unit.

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Another woman to watch, Janet Garufis, the president and CEO of Montecito Bank and Trust, with Matt Bertolet, also of Montecito.
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Bessemer Trust's Rebecca Patterson, Desi Davis and Lisa Corcoran.
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Patty Delgrande and Katia Bouazza were part of a large group from HSBC (which also included Patrick Burke, the CEO of HSBC Bank USA).
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From left, Mary Madden, Kara Kaiser, Elizabeth Vale and Leslie Anderson.

Madden, Kaiser and Anderson are with BMO, and Vale is with Promontory Financial Group.

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Bank of America's Rosa Ramos-Kwok and Inna Pomeranz mingle.
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This JPMorgan Chase group includes, from left, Naney Pandit, Susan Canavari, Lisa Walker and Laura Miller.
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On stage after accepting their awards, Cate Luzio of HSBC (in black and white gown) and Liz Dukes of Synovus Financial (in orange dress) are having a good time while getting ready for a group photo.
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