Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has been ranked the 11th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine.
The influential US publication put Kelly just a few spots below US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who took seventh spot.
The list was headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the third year in a row.
Kelly finished well above former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was ranked 28th - three places lower than last year when she was still in the running for the White House.
South African-born Kelly, 51, took over at Westpac Banking Corp in February this year.
The Forbes citation mentions her amazing rise up the corporate ladder from her humble beginnings as a bank teller.
It also references the controversy caused when Westpac, under her stewardship, launched a takeover of her former employer St George Bank Ltd.
Also on this year's list, in 98th position, is Georgina Rinehart, chairman of Hancock Prospecting, the mining company she inherited from her father Lang Hancock.
Second on the list behind Merkel was the little known Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the US agency that "maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system by insuring deposits, supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships".
The third-place finisher was another unknown, Indra Nooyi, chief executive of US softdrink giant, PepsiCo, who was one of 54 business leaders on the list, unveiled today.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, one of 23 politicians on the list, finished just behind Kelly in 13th place.
Other notable women on the list include French Economy, Finance and Employment Minister Christine Lagarde, in 14th place; Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, head of the Indian National Congress Party, ranked 21st; and Queen Rania of Jordan, in 96th place.
