Sharon Bowles - A Woman of Substance

Look around the board of any central bank, including the ECB, and what you see at the top is still a world of grey men with very few exceptions.

But much of the legislation that dictates how EU governments can spend their money and the structure of the single banking union has been shaped by a small band of women.

The most recognisable is Sharon Bowles, a physicist and mathematician turned patent lawyer who chaired the European Parliament’s economics and monetary committee for the past five years. With her über red hair and broad English accent, she stands out in any company, but few — including the member states — expected that she or the committee she chaired would play the role that they have, in shaping rules for banking, tax, markets, and governments.