Exit of Cruz leaves few women execs on Wall Street

By Steve James

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The downfall of the most powerful woman on Wall Street this week leaves the glass ceiling intact near the top of the biggest U.S. banks.

When Zoe Cruz retired as co-president of Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday, a casualty of the subprime crisis, she left no women in position to lead a Wall Street firm anytime soon.

Other high-profile female executives have also recently stumbled just short of the pinnacles of their companies.

Sallie Krawcheck, chief financial officer at Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), was reassigned to head wealth management and Ellyn McColgan, ranked in the 50 most powerful women in business in 2006 by Fortune magazine, resigned from mutual fund Fidelity Investments after a man was brought in above her.

"Look -- it's still tough," said Muriel Siebert, who founded the New York Stock Exchange brokerage firm that bears her name, Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc, in 1967. "Do some homework and find how many women own stock exchange firms -- pretty lonely."

As of June 2007, 15 women served as chief executives of Standard & Poor's 500 .SPX companies, up from 12 in 2006, according to a report from recruiting firm Spencer Stuart. But only two of those companies were of a financial nature -- Safeco SAF.N and The Western Union Co. (WU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

"The good news is that women are making a lot of progress moving into management in large companies, but the glass ceiling is alive and well and they are not cracking it into the top level," said Olga Vives, an executive vice president of the National Organization for Women.

"Overall, women are making very slow progress in Fortune 500 companies, including the financial industry. It will take generations to gain parity," she said.