Scotiabank Chief Risk Officer Daniel Moore’s job is to prepare the Bank for any eventuality – a role that faced the ultimate test over the past year with the emergence of COVID-19. 

It’s a role Moore says is better referred to as “Chief Worry Officer.”

“If it can go wrong, then you probably should be worrying about it and thinking about it and having people put it in context of the overall risks to the bank. And so, what that means is that the perimeter of the list of things to worry about has changed remarkably through the years.”

Still, the pandemic was incredibly difficult to predict and only with the benefit of hindsight can one connect the dots, Moore said during the latest episode of Pandenomics, a podcast series looking at the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. 

“That’s the lesson learned, right? We need to be ready for the unpredictable, which isn't to say, we need to predict the unpredictable. Having contingency plans is different than being ready for particular outcomes. And I think that’s a large part of the practice of risk management. It’s having plans in place, having excess capital, having defenses in place.”

Moore spoke about the swift and co-ordinated response to the pandemic, from central banks, to regulators and internal treasury teams, leveraging the lessons from the 2008 financial crisis and “applying them two-fold at thrice the velocity.”

“The liquidity very quickly went from being a challenge we had to face to being something where we didn't have to think about it at all,” he said. “In fact, the problem was we had too much liquidity, which was a great outcome to have to worry about.”

The road ahead still has challenges, as Canada and other countries grapple with rising case numbers, but vaccines are being rolled out and the federal government has shown great capacity to support those who have been affected, he said. 

“We're in the endgame here, we can see the beginning of the end. So, I'm optimistic. We're going to have to pull together as a Bank, pull together as a country and in the community to get through this. It's not going to be easy. It is, I think, the test of the generation and will have long term impacts on people's behaviour, on the shape of economies.”

It will be difficult, particularly through the winter, but progress is being made, he added.

“It’s like watching one of these popular movies. In the second half of the movie, the intensity of the action heats up, but you're pretty certain that the good guy's going to win,” he said. “And I think we feel the same way here.”

  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 8: A brighter economic outlook for 2021 here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 7: Markets recover as COVID cases surge here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 6: Biden pros, cons for Canada here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 5: COVID and real estate, Part 2 here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 4: The COVID housing boom here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 3: COVID-19 and business here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 2: COVID-19's impact on jobs here.  
  • Listen to Pandenomics Ep. 1: COVID-19 and Canada's economy here.