Over the past week, the UK has been labouring under a surfeit of remarks by Harriet Harman, Labour deputy leader, that male executives are to blame for the credit crisis. With one of Wall Street's top (female) figures cast back in the spotlight this week, could banks be ready to test the alternative?

Harman, who said "men cannot be trusted to run things on their own," is possibly not the best person to deliver the message, not least because of the perception that she wants to be UK Prime Minister one day. But it is hard to prove her statement wrong, not least because the number of females who run the world's largest banks is zero.