Rabo
band
IN BRIEF
Agribusiness
Advisory Board
Second General Managers
Conference
Account manager
of the year
NEWSFLASHES
Good progress in the Netherlands
and abroad
Issue 4/September 22, 1989
The US Agribusiness Advis
ory Board of Rabobank was
formed in 1988 for the pur-
pose of gaining insight into
trends and developments in
the global agribusiness sys-
tem. The Advisory Board con-
sists of twelve agribusiness
leaders from the USA and
Europe. The first meeting of
the Advisory Board was held in
Dallas, Texas in November
1988. During the second
meeting, held in the Nether-
lands last May, agribusiness
issues relating to biotechnol-
ogy, environmental and food
safety, European agribusiness
after 1992, and the Uruguay
Round of the GATT talks re-
ceived special attention.
Environmental and food safety
issues, as reflected by the
concerns of the general popu-
lation and government actions
in both the Netherlands and
the USA, and the commercial-
ization of biotechnology will
have a significant impact on
the way food is produced, pro-
cessed, and marketed in the
future.
The European economy is ex-
pected to be more prosperous
as a result of the removal of
internal barriers after 1992.
Restructuring within European
agribusiness and increased in-
vestment by non-European
agribusiness companies at-
tracted by the large European
market will create a more com-
petitive European food sys-
tem.
The implications for global agri
business of these and other
developments were discussed
by the Advisory Board with
special attention given to the
implications for Rabobank.
Early In June the General
Managers of the fbreign
Branches, representatlve of
fices and subsidlarles gather-
ed In Utrecht during flve days.
Compared wlth 1988 this so-
called General Managers Con
ference was attended by con-
slderably more partlcipants
reflecting the growth In
fbreign offices slnce the
mlddle of 1988.
One of the main topics was the
developments in agribusiness.
As Rabobank wants to present
itself as an international agri-
bank it is imperative that devel
opments are followed closely
and that the know-how within
the foreign offices is deep-
ened. Another important issue
was the cooperation between
the offices abroad and the lo-
cal Rabobanks and Rabobank
Nederland. This co-operation is
improving fast. For example,
the clients of the local banks
increasingly find their way to
the Branches of ADCA-BANK.
Especially since the introduc-
tion of Dutch-speaking account
managers in every ADCA-BANK
Branch.
Furthermore, they each pre-
sented the scope of the activ-
ities of their office to their col
leagues abroad and a number
of staff members of Rabobank
Nederland. Other topics dis
cussed were, among others:
private banking, lending policy,
and the functioning of the
Head Office of Rabobank Ne
derland as seen by the offices
abroad. On June 8th the Gen
eral Managers joined the Gen
eral Meeting. Last but not
least one should not forget to
mention the sailing trip on the
'Usselmeer'. More than 40
participants took part in this
happening. This day was quite
a success and will support the
future co-operation.
L r
W Rabobank landen Rabobank Parijs
^.4 I «SV
IÉT Rabobank .Antwerpen
The General Managers posed for a photo with a number of colleagues
from Utrecht at the International Stand at the General Meeting. From
left to right: Jos van Boxel (Sydney), Teun de Boon (Sao Paolo), Hugo
Steensma (New York), Frederik Hoek (Rabobank Asia, Singapore), Gijs
van der Schrieck (Singapore), Henk Gentis (London), Anton Nillesen
(Utrecht), Rik van Slingelandt (Utrecht), André Bar (Paris), Henk Visser
(Utrecht), Jacques Jansen (Antwerp), Hans van der Velde (Germany),
Karl-Friedrich Tappe (Germany), Hoyte Sillevis Smitt (Zurich), Henk
Adams (Jakarta), Ad van Hienen (Luxembourg) and, sitting, Sjouke
Postma (Hong Kong)
During the General Man
agers Conference it was decid-
ed to nominate each year an
account manager of the year.
The principal requirement to
be considered for this nomina-
Since the lst of August,
Dutch customers of Rabobank
can call on the services of a
Dutch account manager at all
Branches of ADCA-BANK.
The Milan representative of
fice has been located since
the beginning of August in
larger premises on the Via
Spadari. In October the
six-strong staff of the Zurich
office are moving to the Stei-
nentischstrasse. Larger
premises are found in London
too. It is expected that the re
moval vans will be puiling up
next year. In Singapore,
Julia Teo Siew Ngin received
the part II Prize of the diploma
in banking and finance.
Coming official openings: San
Francisco, September 26. Sao
Paulo, October 26. Sydney,
November 14.
tion is effective and productive
co-operation with other ac
count managers worldwide to
arrivé at increased profitable
banking business for the
Rabobank Group. This year it
was decided to nominate Jan
Porte of the Agribusiness
Banking Group in Utrecht for
this position.
Business operations of the
Rabobank Group continued to
develop favourably in the first
six months of 1989. Interest
earning assets again grew sig-
nificantly. There was a strong
increase in the demand for fi
nance on the part of our mem
bers and customers. This was
true not only for the agricul-
tural sector, to which again
record amounts were lent, but
certainly also for the small and
medium-sized business sector.
Lending to private individuals -
largely home mortgage loans -
was much higher. Our offices
abroad likewise achieved good
progress in their lending oper
ations. Compared with recent
years, the funds entrusted to
our organization showed fair
growth. They did so in terms of
quantity but above all in terms
of quality, since a major part of
the increase concerned long
term (savings) funds. Commis-
sion income again grew satis-
factorily. In particular insur-
ance and stockbroking com-
missions contributed substan-
tially to the result. Total ex-
penses showed distinctly low-
er growth. Increases were
moderate in all cost cat-
egories, including personnel ex
penses. Costs were thus con-
tained, although staff numbers
increased by 310 to 33,510 in
the first six months of the
year. Thanks partly to the con-
trolled cost development, the
income/expenses ratio was
improved further, with the
profit before provisions and
taxes growing by more than
11% to Dfl 907 million. The al-
leviation of the tax burden was
mainly accounted for by lower
corporate tax rates. As a re
sult, the net profit increased
more sharply by 18% to Dfl
443 million than did the profit
before provisions and taxes.
Whereas, for 1989 as a
whole, a significant expansion
in the volume of operations is
expected, we do take into ac
count some deceleration in
the growth of funds as well as
of loans and advances in the
second half of 1989.
