Bari Wolfe, Managing Director, Regulatory Relations, DTCC won Excellence in Regulation at Markets Media Group’s 2022 Women in Finance (U.S.) Awards.
What have been the main drivers of your success?
There are several factors that have driven my success. First, having the opportunity to learn and benefit from mentors and leaders has been instrumental in helping me grow my career. Second, continued learning is incredibly important to me and, I believe, is foundational to future success. There are inevitably highs and lows in career and in life, and it is how you respond, grow and learn from these experiences that allow you to open the door to greater potential and success.
What do you now know that you wish you had known at the start of your career, and how would it have impacted your choices along the way?
One of the things I enjoy most about my role at DTCC is feeling that I can truly make a difference. At the start of my career, I didn’t fully understand how an individual could use his or her unique role in regulatory relations to advance broader policy objectives in support of organizational goals. As I’ve progressed in my career, I now have a better understanding of how each individual contributor can partner with their teams and their colleagues to advance a firm’s goals and objectives. For employees who may be early in their careers, I would encourage them to really think about how their day-to-day work connects to their firm’s corporate goals and mission, and how that fits into the broader financial ecosystem. I have found that when you do this, you realize you have real impact and that can be very inspiring.
What is your greatest professional achievement?
When you work for an organization that is focused on making the financial ecosystem safe, secure, efficient and resilient, you have the opportunity to work on many important initiatives. The U.S. move to shorter settlement cycles is one such advancement that is an important enabler of reduced risk across the industry. From the successful 2017 shift from T+3 to T+2 to today’s work to shorten the settlement cycle to T+1 in 2024, I have been honored to support these key industry-wide efforts at DTCC. Specifically, I have worked across the organization to develop our position around shorter settlement timelines, and I continue regular dialogue with regulators as the initiative moves forward, all working towards a successful implementation that delivers industry benefits.
What’s something you’re really proud of and why?
I’m deeply proud to work at an organization that has such a critical role in the smooth functioning of the markets I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and am excited about our future. Most of all, I’m very proud of our team and my colleagues, who also demonstrate – day in and day out – their willingness and deep commitment to collaborating and innovating to deliver upon our goals and mission.
What are three positive things your colleagues would say about you?
It can be challenging to talk about myself, but I place a keen focus on leading by example by being collaborative, leveraging strong judgement and being an active listener. I believe each of these skills enables me to be a more effective leader and contributor to DTCC.
What are some capital markets regulation trends that decision makers should be tracking and addressing in 2023?
Across the industry, we are seeing an increased focus on resilience. This is particularly important as firms seek to leverage the benefits of newer technologies. Today, decision makers need to be more focused than ever on ensuring that resilience practices are embedded into every technology implementation. DTCC released a white paper on the topic, “The Power of Technology Resilience: A Framework for the Industry,” outlining enhanced resilience measures that firms should consider adopting to ensure the continued safety of the financial markets in an increasingly complex technology and regulatory landscape. We look forward to continuing this dialogue with key stakeholders in the coming months and year.
