For a long time, Singapore was considered a leader in coronavirus containment. However, a marked increase in new cases in recent weeks has prompted the government to take drastic measures to curb the spread of the virus. This series compiled by finews.asia takes a glimpse into the lives and work of financial services professionals coping during the city's lockdown.
While in February there was already an atmosphere of caution and precaution – some people wore face masks and talked about «social distancing,» and temperature screening and disinfecting one's hands were the norm – the daily routine changed dramatically last week.
(People are instructed to stay at home, with few exceptions, and must wear a mask when going out.)
The introduction of «circuit breaker measures» – a lockdown and curb of all non-essential businesses and activities – which roughly correspond to the far-reaching restrictions adopted in many European and U.S. cities, has put the financial metropolis to sleep.
(Malls are lit up but shops will remain shut until May 4 as part of the city's «circuit breaker» measures.)
The changeover has proceeded relatively smoothly, especially as numerous companies had already taken appropriate measures in February 2020, which finews.asia previously reported. In addition, the experience of the SARS pandemic in 2003 may have prepared the city to address the new outbreak a pragmatic way.
(The tourist and shopping belt Orchard Road is deserted, save for food delivery bikes and joggers enjoying the empty roads.)
Nevertheless, the view of the otherwise crowded but now deserted streets and public places seems very science fiction-like. Banks have activated their contingency plans and continue to function. This is also confirmed by Damian Hitchen (pictured below), CEO of the Swiss online bank Swissquote, which opened a subsidiary here in 2019.
Damian Hitchen, Singapore has been at the forefront of Covid-19 prevention. Is its recent lockdown a setback of this virus containment policy so far?
Our view is this is not a setback, and indeed the Singapore government has been impressively clear, logical and communicative in its Covid-19 policy thus far. At Swissquote, we support the measures within this circuit breaker based on the bigger picture and objective to contain the virus at this point.
What are your current hurdles to working smoothly?
As banking and financial services are classified as an essential service, we can go into the office for tasks that cannot be done remotely, however it is our intention to work from home as much as possible, and as I write this, we are 100 percent of FTEs in WFH mode.
Swissquote globally, being a technology bank, has invested into remote working tools for some time, which is why we are able to access all of the main and critical tools and platforms we require, just the same as if we were in the office
How do you communicate with your clients now?
There is no material difference here to pre-Covid. Whether it will be phone (our landlines are forwarded), email, Bloomberg chat, etc., we are connected to all the same channels as before. It obviously also helps our clients hugely that they have direct market access for trading via our platforms, rather than having to go through a desk/RM as per traditional models.
How long can you survive/ride out such a situation?
From our perspective, aside from the human challenge of not seeing your colleagues and clients face to face, we are not concerned. In fact, if you view our recent 2019 results, as the crisis has massively increased market volatility, our trading volumes have seen large increases YTD.
(A deserted train station in the Central Business District during rush hour.)
In just two months in 2020, we made over 30 percent of the trades of the entire 2019, and our system stability has been robust with no material downtime. So in many ways as a digital bank, we are built for this type of market/trading/remote working scenario.
Do you think Singapore as a financial center will lose its importance due to the Covid-19 outbreak?
Not at all – Covid-19 is a global problem, not a local Singapore problem, and with the combination of essential services still being able to operate and the excellent communication by the Singapore government, which is seen globally as a leader, if anything I think the period, once we are over the worst and moving back toward normal conditions, will see Singapore very positively against other global GFCs.
Damian Hitchen joined Swissquote in January 2014 to drive the firm's expansion strategy from being Switzerland's largest online banking and trading platform into the Middle East and Asia. From 2014 to 2019, he helped the firm build a B2C-B2B branch in Dubai. In July 2019, he moved to Singapore to manage the new Swissquote office which focuses on professional and institutional clients such as independent asset managers, insurance companies, securities brokers, family offices and regional banks. Prior to joining Swissquote, Hitchen spent almost a decade in senior positions with HSBC in the Middle East.
