NEW YORK, September 26, 2011 — BNY Mellon Vice Chairman Karen Peetz has been named the "Most Powerful Woman in Banking" by American Banker magazine as part of its annual ranking of women in banking and finance. The rankings are based on the financial performance of each organization or woman-led division, combined with each nominee's job responsibility, management style, crisis management skills, influence within the industry and charitable endeavors.

"Karen Peetz personifies the attributes of powerful leaders. Beyond her corporate responsibilities, which make her powerful by anyone's definition, her intelligence, confidence and approachability have made her an influential force in the industry," said Heather Landy, editor in chief of American Banker magazine. "Significantly, as a founder and leader of her firm's network for female employees, she helps cultivate others' talent."

"Karen has earned this recognition through her firm commitment to our global clients and her exemplary work in leading and developing talented people across our company," said BNY Mellon Chairman, President and CEO Gerald Hassell. "Karen's influence reaches beyond the businesses she leads. Her personal commitment to supporting women has been extraordinary and effective."

The October issue of American Banker magazine features Peetz and highlights the professional achievements of top-performing women at the highest levels of leadership in the financial services industry.

Peetz joined BNY Mellon in 1998. In her current vice chairman role, she leads a broad range of the company's investment services businesses, which include Pershing, treasury services, corporate trust, depositary receipts, shareowner services, broker-dealer services, and alternative investment services. These businesses account for approximately 40 percent of BNY Mellon's overall revenue and comprise 17,000 employees globally.

An active member of BNY Mellon's Global Diversity and Inclusion Council, Peetz is the founder and chairperson of the company's Women's Initiatives Network (WIN), which has chapters in nearly 50 locations with almost 4,000 members.

Peetz serves on The Pennsylvania State University's Board of Trustees, and is a member of the Carey Business School's Corporate Advisory Board at Johns Hopkins University and the Financial Services Roundtable.  She is a Board member for the Brooklyn Academy of Music and serves as the Chairperson of the Board for United Way of New York City.

The awards will be presented by American Banker magazine and its parent company, SourceMedia, on October 6, during an event at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. To learn more about The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking programs, please visit www.25mpwib.com. The 25MPWIB community is committed to fostering women's professional development, career advancement and peer-to-peer networking, and includes the rankings and recognition dinner, The Mentor Factor career development workshops, the National Leadership Workshop and The Inner Circle, a monthly eNewsletter and professional social network for women. For more information, visit American Banker.

BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 36 countries and serving more than 100 markets.  BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, offering superior investment management and investment services through a worldwide client-focused team.  It has $26.3 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.3 trillion in assets under management, services $11.8 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.7 trillion per day.  BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK).  Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com and through Twitter @bnymellon.

For more information or to learn more about BNY Mellon's commitment to corporate social responsibility and diversity visit www.bnymellon.com/csr.