Yahoo Finance British banker Jane Fraser becomes first woman to run a Wall Street bank
Scottish banker Jane Fraser has become the most powerful British woman in global business after being appointed boss of US titan Citigroup.
Ms Fraser will be Wall Street's first ever female boss when she takes charge in February, replacing Michael Corbat - who said just a year ago that he did not expect a woman to succeed him.
She appointed as the next head of Citi, the world's largest credit-card issuer, after spending just a year in the bank's number-two role.
The role puts her in charge of a $107bn (£84bn) behemoth with 204,000 staff, 200 million customers and operations in 160 countries. It lifts her to the forefront of a select group of British businesswomen in charge of golbal firms, including the likes of Glaxosmithkline boss Emma Walmsley.
Another Briton, Marianne Lake, is finance chief at JP Morgan and tipped as a leading contender to eventually succeed boss Jamie Dimon.
Mr Corbat is retiring after more than eight years at the top of Citi. He will step down in February.
Ms Fraser's elevation is a major milestone for Wall Street, which has been criticised for years for having an overly macho culture and failing to promote enough women to senior positions.
In a grilling by the House Financial Services Committee last year, Mr Corbat and his counterparts at six of America's largest banks were asked to raise their hands if they thought they would be succeeded by a woman and none of them did.
Ms Fraser has worked at Citi for 16 years and said only two years ago that she was not specifically aiming to become Wall Street's first female boss.
She told CNN: "I look forward to seeing a woman being the first CEO of a Wall Street firm whoever that may be.
"I've never had the ambition to be the CEO of Citi or any other organisation. Things can change over time."
Ms Fraser has run several divisions at Citi, including its private bank, Latin American arm and sprawling consumer division.
She has previously spoken out about the sexist treatment she suffered while working in Latin America, saying that she received negative headlines in Mexico because she was a "female foreigner with responsibility".
Her husband Alberto Piedra also previously worked as a banker, but left his job in 2008 to spend more time caring for their young children.
Before joining the lender, the 53-year-old worked as a partner at McKinsey and as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. She graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Cambridge in 1988 and completed an MBA at Harvard in the mid-1990s.
Other contenders for the top job at Citi included its investment bank boss Paco Ybarra and finance chief Mark Mason.
Ms Fraser joins a small club of female banking bosses that include NatWest chief Alison Rose, the first female boss of a major UK bank. Marianne Lake, JP Morgan's finance chief, is also widely viewed as a contender to replace long-standing chief executive Jamie Dimon.
