ABN and Amro
to merge
ADCA more
RABO
Rabobank seeks
cooperation with
Interpolis
Cooperation be-
tween Rabobank
and Bank Duta
Satellite news experiment started
Staff communication magazine
for the Rabobank Groun
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Holland's two largest com
mercial banks, ABN and Amro,
are planning to merge. The
combined bank will be the sixth
largest in Europe and rank
among the top 25 on the world
list of banks.
Both ABN and Amro engage
mainly in the provision of ser
vices to large companies and in
ternational concerns. The merger
is mainly aimed at achieving cost
savings in the domestic market
and creating a broader basis
for international expansion. Be-
tween them, the two banks have
375 branches abroad, against
Rabobank's present total of 30
foreign offices. After the merger,
Rabobank will still rank fore-
most in many segments of the
domestic market. lts present
share in the savings market is
twice that of the future new
bank, which will have a 15%
share in the residential mort-
gage market compared with
Rabobank's 25%.
ADCA-BANK in West Ger-
many is giving increasing em-
phasis to the fact that it is part
of the Rabobank Group. The
photograph shows the ADCA-
branch in Dusseldorf, where
the new name was put up on
the front. The lettering is in line
with the Rabobank Group's
house style. The Rabobank
logo is also included.
Rabobank Nederland and the
cooperative insurance com-
pany Interpolis intend to enter
into a more extensive form of
cooperation. As a result of a
recent change in Dutch legis-
lation, insurers and banks can
maintain closer links. Rabo
bank now holds 11% of the
shares of Interpolis.
Interpolis and Rabobank ex-
pect that a combination of their
banking and insurance busi
ness will lead to a stronger
starting position for respond-
ing to future market develop-
ments. By integrating forms of
financial services and offering
these in a combined form,
they will be able to increase
the effectiveness of the ser
vice supplied. Located at Til
burg in the south of the
Netherlands, Interpolis has
1,750 employees.
The contract for the coop
eration between Rabobank Ne
derland and the Indonesian
Bank Duta was signed in Ja
karta on 19 January. It lays
down that the two banks will
jointly set up a commercial
bank in the ratio of eighty-
five/fifteen. This bank will be
called PT Rabobank Duta. Gijs
van der Schrieck of the Singa
pore Branch signed the con
tract on behalf of Rabobank
and Mr Abdulgani signed for
the Bank Duta.
It was not only the experience
of Henk Adams, our represen-
tative in Jakarta, but also that
of the Rabobank Foundation
(SSR) that contributed to the
decision to set up the PT Rabo
bank Duta. The Rabobank
Foundation has been actively
involved in giving guidance to
cooperatives in Indonesia for
some years now. Present there
for over four years, Rabobank
has found that it may confident-
ly be said that there is room for
a commercial bank. A commer
cial bank which, on the one
hand, will focus on companies
interested in relationships with
the Netherlands and, on the
other hand, on companies in
the agricultural sector. The In
donesian economy is prosper-
ing, partly under the influence
of the vigorous development in
the other countries in this part
of the world.
Until 1988 it was impossible
for a foreign bank to acquire a
majority holding in an existing
or newly-planned Indonesian
bank. Bank Duta is a success-
ful commercial bank. It is one
ofthefifteen Indonesian banks
with a permitto do business in-
temationally. In addition, there
are another eleven banks
which are traditionally owned
by foreign banks. In ferms of
balance-sheet volume, Bank
Duta is the ninth largest com
mercial bank in Indonesia. If
the implementation of the con
tract goes according to plan,
the new bank will be able to
open its doors in November.
On Thursday 1 March, the live TV news for the Rabobank
Group in the Netherlands went on the air for the first time. The
bank's own Audio-Visual Department in Eindhoven produces a
news programme four days a week. Besides the thirteen perma
nent employees, eight freelancers have been recruited for the
two-month trial. By way of experiment, employees can watch
live news from the organization plus financial news in forty local
banks and the Dutch offices of Rabobank Nederland every morn-
ing at 8.30. Viewers' initial reactions were positive.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE..