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With a career spanning finance, risk and operations across London and Paris, Konstantina Travlou operates at the heart of the financial system’s post-trade infrastructure, ensuring resilience, efficiency and stability in complex clearing services. In this interview, Konstantina shares her perspective on leadership in high-responsibility environments, navigating regulatory and market change and the importance of adaptability and collaboration in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
Interviewed by Anastasiia Hresko & My-Han Trinh
You have built an impressive resume at the intersection of finance, risk, and operations, taking on roles that expanded your scope rather than following a single linear path. What brought you to the direction your career eventually took?
When I look back, my career feels less like a carefully mapped-out plan and more like a series of defining steps. I began in finance as a Finance Business Partner, but early on realised that what truly interested me was not finance in isolation, not just numbers or the P&L, but how the entire system fits together. I became curious about what happens behind the scenes: how finance, risk and operations interact and how decisions in one area ripple across the whole organisation. That curiosity naturally drew me to roles at the intersection of these functions, where you can see the real mechanics of markets and where your work can have tangible impact.
A strong motivation to keep learning has been one of the key drivers behind many of my moves, whether taking on new problems to solve or relocating across countries. Moving from Greece to London and then to Paris exposed me to new environments, perspectives and challenges. Each role taught me something different: how risk is managed, how regulation shapes markets, how operational decisions translate into real outcomes for clients, and how to collaborate effectively with people from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds.
Ultimately, what has brought me to where I am today is a constant appetite for growth and change, combined with the ability to adapt quickly and confidently to new environments and evolving circumstances.
In your current role as Chief Operating Officer RepoClear and CaLM at LSEG how do you balance between strategic oversight and the day-to-day operational demands of highly complex post-trade services?
In post-trade and clearing, you operate with a constant sense of responsibility. These are services that markets rely on every single day, often in times of stress, so “good enough” is simply not good enough. That reality keeps you firmly grounded in operational execution and day-to-day discipline.
At the same time, focusing only on today’s issues would quickly leave you behind. The environment is constantly evolving: regulations, technology, client expectations, competition, etc. - everything moves fast. A key part of my role is ensuring that we are not just reacting to change, but actively shaping where we want the business to go next.
Personally, I try to stay close to both the people and the details, without getting lost in either. I’m fortunate to work with a strong leadership team and much of my role is about creating clarity, so helping teams understand what truly matters, where the key risks lie and where we should invest our time and energy for the future. Some days that means diving deep into operational issues. Other days, it involves making longer-term decisions around resilience, growth, or transformation. The balance is not static, it’s something you manage continuously. Every day is different.
A key part of my role is ensuring that we are not just reacting to change, but actively shaping where we want the business to go next.
Repo, collateral, and liquidity management sit at the core of market stability. From your perspective, how are recent market and regulatory developments reshaping priorities in this space?
It is a technical space, but in recent years it has become very visible, especially during periods of crisis. The market has been reminded just how central repo, collateral and liquidity management are to the stability of the financial system. When volatility increases, attention naturally shifts to the “market plumbing” and to how resilient and prepared that infrastructure really is.
What I’ve observed over the past few years is a convergence of pressures and opportunities. On one side, regulators are rightly focused on resilience, transparency and robust risk management. On the other, clients and clearing members are facing increasing balance sheet constraints and capital pressures. They are looking for smarter, more efficient ways to optimise collateral and liquidity across their businesses.
These combined forces are pushing the industry toward greater automation, better use of data and more integrated solutions. But efficiency for its own sake is not the goal. The real objective is to build infrastructure that can absorb shocks, adapt to change and continue to function when it matters most. Ultimately, the priorities in our space are increasingly defined by a balance between safety, efficiency and adaptability. That balance is what shapes how our business continues to evolve.
LSEG operates across geographies and markets. How do you ensure alignment and effective collaboration across teams with different regulatory, cultural, and operational realities?
There are two key components to ensuring alignment in a global organisation like LSEG.
First, we need absolute clarity on what must be consistent everywhere, particularly in areas such as risk management, resilience, governance and standards. These are non-negotiable foundations. They create trust in the system and ensure that, regardless of geography, we operate with the same level of robustness and discipline.
At the same time, we must allow space for local context and flexibility. Trying to impose uniformity across a global organisation simply doesn’t work. Different markets operate under different regulatory environments, cultural norms and client expectations. Respecting those differences is essential.
For me personally, a big part of enabling collaboration is relationship-building. I spend a lot of time listening, staying close to teams and understanding their perspectives and constraints. Trust and open communication are critical, especially when teams operate across countries and time zones. People need to feel that they have a voice.
I strongly believe that diversity is a strength. Different viewpoints lead to better decisions and more resilient solutions. But diversity only creates value if people feel heard and included. My role is to help create an environment where people are comfortable speaking up, challenging constructively and supporting one another, both locally and across geographies.
Diversity only creates value if people feel heard and included. My role is to help create an environment where people are comfortable speaking up, challenging constructively and supporting one another.
If you could go back in time and give one piece of advice to your younger self at the start of your career, what would it be?
I’d tell her not to wait until she feels 100% ready before taking the next step. Early in my career, like many people, especially women, I felt I needed to tick every single box before applying for a role or stepping into something new. I thought I had to have all the answers, all the skills, complete certainty that I would succeed... But looking back, the moments when I learned the most were actually the moments when I didn’t feel fully ready and moved forward anyway.
I often say that we all have two voices in our heads. One is optimistic and says, “Go for it, you can do this!” The other is more cautious, sometimes even fearful, telling you that you’re not ready. Over time, I’ve learned that growth begins when you stop letting that fearful voice makes the decisions.
There’s a famous line from Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And I truly believe that. Fear is often what holds us back the most. But if we channel that energy into preparation, effort and learning, instead of hesitation, we’re capable of far more than we think. You can never be 100% prepared, that’s simply not how life works. But if you trust the work you’ve put in and take the step forward, you’ll often surprise yourself with what you’re able to achieve.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
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