Sitting here in lockdown, I have been reflecting on the current Covid-19 crisis relative to the 2008 financial crisis. I am often asked what I remember most about that time and my answer is not what many expect.

On 13 October 2008, I was holed up at the New York Federal Reserve building in downtown Manhattan with my team from Barclays. By early evening, it was clear we were the preferred buyer for Lehman Brothers when a Fed official moved us from a tiny conference room to a much bigger one. A handwritten sign on the door said ‘Buyer’. The Bank of America team had just left.