Dutch Desk America - a link
between the Netherlands
and the USA
Rabo
band
A cliënt in the Netherlands approaches his local
Rabobank with a problem about doing business
in the United States. The bank cannot give an
immediate answer to his specific question.
Obviousiy, it is impossible to know everything about the vast
number of regulations, laws, addresses and services there. That
requires specific expertise and experience. But not to worry. The
relevant affiliated Rabobank simply contacts the country desk
for North and South America at Rabobank Nederland in Utrecht.
An interview with the staff of one of the Dutch Desks which
Rabobank boasts: the Dutch Desk America.
Help for banks and
clients
pf^SpislsIii
Issue 2/September 23, 1988
y ne of the most important tasks
of the New York office is assist-
ing the local Rabobanks in the
Netherlands and the clients of these local
banks. It is done through the Dutch Desk
in New York, but there is also a Dutch
Desk in the Netherlands. The two Dutch
Desks cooperate closely with each other,
they operate as a conjunction of each
other.' The speaker is Paul Dekker, who is
head of the North and South America
Desk. Within the country desk North and
South America the Dutch Desk America is
run by Marjolein Ruijs. She maintains in
tensive contact with Dutch Desk Officer
Bert Wiss in New York. He is also Dutch
and is Marjolein Ruijs's opposite number.
Paul Dekker has had more than five
years' banking experience in America, of
which four years with Rabobank New York.
'We have built up the Desk in two years.
The intention is that the Dutch Desk
Officers visit each other regularly. Busi
ness is done by people and not by institu-
tions. At the Desks we are always encoun-
tering unusual things. Anything that goes
according to plan simply carries on in its
own way. We do not have to intervene'.
Marjolein Ruijs has been involved with
the Dutch Desk from the start. Before that
she already worked with the International
Division of Rabobank Nederland. 'What we
aim to do', says Marjolein Ruijs, 'is to
keep the threshold for the local Rabo
banks as low as possible. On the basis of
the questions passed on to us we can
judge whether the answer can be given
here in Utrecht or has to be given in New
York. Don't start there, we always say, but
here in the Netherlands. Generally a phone
call comes back from New York and we
have to give the answer here in the
Netherlands anyway. Since we are located
in the Netherlands, which has proven to be
easier for a lot of local Rabobanks to con
tact us, we have greatly expanded the ac-
cessibility of the Dutch Desk.'
Furthermore, Paul Dekker adds: 'Gene
rally the cliënt does not always know how
to formulate his question and sometimes
does not explain it clearly to his local
Rabobank. As a result, the Rabobank can
not fully understand what the problem ac-
tually is. You have to help in such cases.
After all, we have to answer the question
correctly.'
What happens, for instance, if some-
one asks: 'Can you give us the name of a
lawyer in America'. Paul Dekker: 'We then
ask, where and what for? When we know
that, we can give the right answer and of-
ten add extra background information and
advice. It also regularly happens that
clients say they intend to set up a branch
in the USA and follow that with the ques
tion of whether we can give them a list of
potential customers. And then they do not
realize that America has 250 million inhab-
itants and is much bigger than the
Netherlands.' He continues: 'When the
question is finally clear, we can then indi-
cate what we can supply. That may vary
from specific advice on one subject to the
assistance in finding answers to a wider
range of questions with regard to starting
an export to the US. We explain how inter
national payments operate. We will teil:
Remember to stay out of that, do not go
too far there, these are the customs, and
so on. After that the New York office
comes into the picture and, in fact, takes
over the customer.'
Many questions and answers Some-
thing more about the tasks of the Dutch
Desk in Utrecht. Paul Dekker: 'We are in
volved with a large number of aspects.
We give quite a lot of information about
the financial system and how it operates,
but also about such things as product lia-
bility and insurance. The legal system in
America is completely different from that
in the Netherlands. Furthermore, we give
information and advice about the Ame
rican market and, for example, provide in-
troductions to the Chambers of Com-
merce.
The A Team Sometimes, the first
contact between the local Rabobank and
the America Desk is made through the 'A
Team'. That is a nickname for a group of
advisers in the International Division who
inform local Rabobanks how they can sup
port their clients' international activities.
They point the way to the country desks
and give the necessary back-up. Quite a
lot of banks still do not do much business
at international level and therefore have lit-
tle experience, for example, with interna
tional payments. The A team pinpoints the
need for activities and support in this field
in the Netherlands.
SP
'i a |li»} i
Bert Wiss, Paul Dekker and Marjolein Ruijs.