Margo Rachat-Nielsen
FINANCIAL REGULATION OFFICER
GROUP LEGAL ØRSTED
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
6:00 am
Wake up to the sound of the baby monitor. There’s no need to set an alarm — my son is an early riser. He’s not fully awake yet so I hurry to brush my teeth and make a cup of coffee before he starts fussing. Today, I feed and dress the baby while the coffee gets cold.
7:00 am
My husband’s alarm goes off. Begin the first baby handoff of the day so I can shower, dress, pick out my daughter’s clothes, and pour a second cup of coffee. I drink this one while it’s still hot and confirm the family’s schedule for the day.
7:30 am
No early meetings for my husband, so I leave him to get our daughter ready. Before I head to the office, I drop the baby to “vuggestue” (nursery school). Double check my schedule to verify which of our two office locations I need to visit.
8:15 am
Arrive at the Virum office. Today’s commute is about 25 minutes. It’s summertime and I am driving against the flow of traffic away from Copenhagen. I greet my colleagues. We work in an open office and two other lawyers are present. Grab a breakfast of homemade bread and strawberry jam from the canteen. Breakfast and lunch are provided by the company. Sit at my desk to eat while I read emails and news headlines.
9:00 am
Quick trip upstairs to the trading floor to say good morning and clarify a question. I am currently updating their communication and monitoring policy and drafting accompanying monitoring procedures for my department. I read through the EU benchmarking regulation and best practices to confirm we have the pertinent points covered.
10:00 am
Solicit advice from our data privacy expert who, luckily, is the lawyer sitting behind me. Send the drafts to HR’s legal department to ensure that we are aligned and have their OK.
10:15 am
Meet with the lead strategy associate from our “Energy as a Service” team to receive a briefing about the initiative. Ørsted is moving away from fossil fuels so there are new projects with an emphasis on green energy.
11:00 am
Up to the trading floor again to sit with the traders. Since my focus is on the financial regulations, it is important to work closely with and understand the markets unit to ensure the regulations do not hamper their ability to meet our energy trading obligations. Today the discussion is on the legality of trading practices in an illiquid market and whether a script they use meet the definition of an algorithm.
12:00 pm
Head back down to legal in time for lunch with colleagues.
12:30 pm
In the car for a 10-minute drive to our other location in Gentofte.
1:00 pm
Status meeting with my director. July and August are not good months for scheduling meetings in Denmark, as half the office is vacationing. However, I am recently back from maternity leave so it is a good opportunity for me to get caught up on what has happened during my nine-month absence.
2:00 pm
Sit at my desk in Gentofte (also open office) to work on changes suggested by my director to an agenda. A large part of my job involves keeping stakeholders informed. Schedule the next round of status meetings with business unit leaders.
3:00 pm
Last meeting of the day with my counterpart in wind energy. We discuss projects that are connected and align our reporting output to ensure we are on message.
4:00 pm
Leave the office to pick up children and head home. Slightly more traffic than the morning but Gentofte is closer to home.
5:00 pm
Arrive home with the kids and start prepping dinner.
6:00 pm
My husband arrives home and takes over cooking.
6:30 pm
Dinner with my husband and the kids. Tonight is traditional Danish food (i.e., pork chops, roasted potatoes, and red cabbage mixed with non-traditional West Indian spices).
7:00 pm
Children’s baths, stories, and bedtime. Straighten up.
8:30 pm
Back online for work. Revise presentations for meetings the next day and read technical standards published by the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA).
10:00 pm
Put the work computer away and watch the season finale of “Better Call Saul” on Netflix with my husband.
11:00 pm
Bedtime.
