Andrew Douglas, Managing Director of Government Relations for EMEA and Asia, DTCC
What’s one significant way coronavirus has affected your work?
I have taken the opportunity to create a list of people I haven’t spoken to for a long period of time and am trying to email or phone someone different every day. I am finding the simple act of contacting someone and asking them how they are, is beneficial to both of us. It has been great to catch up with a lot of folks that I haven’t spoken to in some time.
What’s a typical day like for you right now as we “shelter in place”?
As creatures of habit, we need structure but we like variety in what we do. We need time to work independently, but we value and benefit from human contact. We need physical activity balanced with time for thinking. I aim to incorporate all of these activities into my typical day.
I still get up and go to bed at the same time I always have. I work on my own, but my wife and I try to have lunch together if we can and we always eat together in the evening. My daily train journey has been replaced by a daily walk at 6:45 a.m., and during the day I attend webinars, read documents and talk to colleagues and contacts on the phone. I also find I have to set my alarm to remind me to get up from my desk every 45 minutes or so as I found initially, I could sit at my desk virtually all day without moving!
What’s something that has given you hope for the future after this pandemic?
On a recent call with a regulator, the comment was made that markets and infrastructures have performed well in this crisis and that the continued focus on resilience has paid dividends. I absolutely agree with this statement. All the hard work of policymakers, regulators and market participants to implement and comply with post-crisis regulations has been worthwhile as the financial markets have continued to operate smoothly throughout the pandemic.
