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.

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blad 'Raboband International' (EN) | 1989 | | pagina 2