They shook up global finance

Pictured (Clockwise L-R): Inga Beale, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Janet Yellen and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.Lloyd's of London announces first ever female boss will take over in JanuaryIndustry veteran Inga Beale will become CEO -- a first in the company's 325-year historyCNN takes a look at other financial trailblazers in world economyLeading Women connects you to extraordinary women of our time. Each month, we meet two women at the top of their field, exploring their careers, lives and ideas.

(CNN) -- From Wall Street to the City of London, the world of finance has long been marred by a gender imbalance in the coveted C-suite.

But Lloyd's of London, the oldest insurance market in the world, took the sector by surprise when it named industry veteran Inga Beale as the next CEO -- the first ever female to take on the role in the organization's 325 year history.

On the heels of Lloyd's historic appointment, CNN names some fellow female financial trailblazers also making an impact on the world economy.

Lloyd's of London have announced the appointment of Inga Beale as chief executive -- the first female to hold the postition in the insurance market's 325-year history.Courtesy Neal Houghton/Lloyd's of LondonInga Beale

When Inga Beale joins Lloyd's of London this January, she will become the first ever female chief executive to lead the insurance market in its 325-year-old history.

With a slew of international experience built up over her 30-year career, she most recently served as group chief executive of Canopius, a privately held Lloyd's insurer.

Beale also worked as the global chief underwriting officer at Zurich Insurance. Taking over from current CEO Richard Ward, she will be responsible for pushing through the tech modernization drive along with boosting growth in Latin America and Asia.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati was previously Indonesia's minister for finance prior to assuming the role of managing director and and COO for the World Bank in 2010.Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images/FileSri Mulyani Indrawati

Since serving as Indonesia's minister of finance and coordinating minister of economic affairs, Sri Mulyani Indrawati has moved to the international stage with a senior leadership role at the World Bank.

Joining in 2010, she became the managing director and chief operating officer for the prestigious international finance institution where her role involves providing financial capital to developing countries -- the World Bank's ultimate goal of reducing world poverty.

Christine Lagarde has held the role of managing director of the IMF since taking over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011.Oli Scarff/WPA Pool/Getty Images/FileChristine Lagarde

As managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde has become a force majeure in the world of global finance.

In 2007, she became the first woman in France to serve as minister of finance, economy and trade -- experience which seems to have proven invaluable since assuming the top job from Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the IMF in June 2011.

Janet Yellen became the official nominee for the next Fed chair when U.S. President Barack Obama announced her nomination on October 9, 2013.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/FileJanet Yellen

Upon Senate confirmation, Janet Yellen is poised to become the first female chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve when current head Ben Bernanke steps down in January.

She has extensive experience as a public servant -- she currently serves as Bernanke's deputy in a role she has held for the last three years. Her longstanding career in academia has also put her in good stead to assume leadership of the central bank.

Nigeria's finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala attends a conference in Paris on December 4.Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images/FileNgozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has had an impressive career serving as Nigeria's finance minister and then briefly Foreign Affairs Minister -- the first woman to hold either position.

A graduate of Harvard, she earned a Ph.D. in regional economics and development at MIT and then spent 21 years as a development economist at the World Bank working her way up to managing director.

As Nigeria's current finance minister, she has continued to work to fight corruption, bring transparency to the nation's finances and institute reforms to make the economy more attractive for foreign investment.

Read: 5 things you didn't know about Janet Yellen

Watch: World Bank boss' quest to end poverty

Read: Lagarde: Yellen is 'as good as you can get'

/* push in config for this share instance */cnn_shareconfig.push({"id" : "cnn_sharebar2","url" : "http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/business/is-the-banking-boys-club-dead/index.html","title" : "Is the banking \'boys\' club\' dead? Five female trailblazers in finance"});December 10, 2013 -- Updated 1244 GMT (2044 HKT) CNN's Isha Sesay meets COO and Managing Director of the World Bank Sri Mulyani Indrawati. December 17, 2013 -- Updated 1358 GMT (2158 HKT) On the heels of Lloyd's historic appointment of first ever female boss, CNN takes a look at some other financial trailblazers making an impact on the world economy. December 13, 2013 -- Updated 1421 GMT (2221 HKT) When Kerry-Anne Walsh, an Australian political journalist started writing a book on former PM Julia Gillard's treatment by the media, she didn't mince her words.December 9, 2013 -- Updated 1633 GMT (0033 HKT) In honor of computer programmer Grace Murray Hopper's 107th birthday, CNN celebrates female trailblazers of science and technology.December 5, 2013 -- Updated 1051 GMT (1851 HKT) Meet Marita Cheng, one of Australia's brightest young scientists changing the way we think about robots -- and feminism.November 26, 2013 -- Updated 1737 GMT (0137 HKT) What do you do when you're the head of one of the biggest broadcast networks in the world, but your audience isn't watching TV? November 22, 2013 -- Updated 1101 GMT (1901 HKT) Floating high above the Earth, astronaut Karen Nyberg pointed her camera at a swirling white cloud spreading across the planet. November 14, 2013 -- Updated 1236 GMT (2036 HKT) A new exhibition in Washington displays remarkable images from female photojournalists as they capture life around the world on film. November 11, 2013 -- Updated 1745 GMT (0145 HKT) Outnumbering the men four to one, the female staff of Bletchley Park were the silent heroes of World War II.November 7, 2013 -- Updated 1732 GMT (0132 HKT) Man, woman, or Ham the chimp: gender is not an issue in Hollywood's latest space thriller "Gravity," says it's star Sandra Bullock.November 1, 2013 -- Updated 1301 GMT (2101 HKT) If it was up to Natalie Portman, feminine heroines wouldn't be limited to ass-kicking wonder women. They could even be -- wait for it -- nerdy scientists.November 1, 2013 -- Updated 1407 GMT (2207 HKT) Trend Micro CEO Eva Chen wants to create an environment where employees are encouraged to explore brand new ideas.October 15, 2013 -- Updated 1707 GMT (0107 HKT) As Apple announce they have snapped up Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, CNN takes a look at the woman who reinvented the luxury label.October 15, 2013 -- Updated 1558 GMT (2358 HKT) Meet Sophie Scott, a leading professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London studying what makes us laugh and why.October 10, 2013 -- Updated 1724 GMT (0124 HKT) She is poised to become one of the world's most powerful women, joining an elite club of fellow female trailblazers in government. See the full coverage of CNN's Leading Women -- the show that connects you to extraordinary women who have made it to the top.Today's five most popular stories

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Global Rough Diamond Trade Thrives In Antwerp

In four unprepossessing streets in the centre of Antwerp, a secretive, centuries-old business is conducted behind bulletproof glass where a handshake and the Yiddish word "mazel" seals the deal.

The international diamond trade has been centred in the city since the 15th century. It is estimated that 85% of the global trade in rough diamonds passes through Antwerp, worth €43bn (?36bn) every year, equivalent to the GDP of Slovenia.

You would imagine that the crippling single currency crisis which continues to hold Europe in its grip would have had an icing effect on expensive ice, but business is booming, even as a quarter of Antwerp's young people struggle to find work.

We went to find out why, gaining access to one of the most secure buildings in the country guided by the entrepreneur Vashi Dominguez, who runs a successful UK-based diamond business from mine to retail.

It was fairly clear from the outset that news cameras aren't welcome in the diamond quarter. A police officer was dispatched to check our credentials after a CCTV camera filmed us on the pavement, while private security guards watched us warily from doorways.

After surrendering our passports, and with a prior appointment, we were allowed inside one 10-storey concrete building, in which trades valued at €1bn (?837,000) take place every month.

In a simple room with a series of substantial tables - and an even larger safe built into the wall - Vashi showed us three cut diamonds with a combined value of ?2m as well as a scattering of smaller rough stones.

The four Cs still determine the price of a finished stone: cut, colour, clarity and carat (the weight, with a carat equivalent to one fifth of a gram), but the value of unusual, or "fancy" diamonds has been increasing dramatically at auction since the financial crisis began.

Vashi explains that as government bonds and currencies have become less attractive to investors since the start of the crisis in 2008, they have turned to valuable commodities like gold and gems.

"Prices are rising because demand is increasing. That's due to the slowdown and more interest from buyers in the east like China and India as well as other developing countries such as Brazil," he explains.

"There's another factor too: there has been a lack of major discoveries of new mines and some mines that have been discovered can't be built into viable businesses because the extraction process is so costly."

A massive new mine is being prepared in Canada, and De Beers continues to chip new diamonds out of Jwaneng mine in Botswana, but prospectors are working hard globally to establish new deposits.

The location of the current mines and trade patterns shifting eastwards could threaten Antwerp's pre-eminence as a diamond hub. More business could switch to Dubai, which is closer to southern Africa.

That's reflected in a change in the religion and ethnicity of the traders: the diamond quarter has been conspicuously Jewish, but more Indians are moving into the business, and into the area.

At the moment, Antwerp is still keeping its nose ahead of those rival cities looking to snatch its diamond tiara. It's an irony that the booming gem trade is based in a continent where economies have lost their lustre.

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