Rabolnvest a finance company, not a bank
Changes in Milan
Rabobank Duta, a joint venture
KdlIU
band Issue 10/January, 1992
Sydney,
twenty-four hours
from the Netherlands
by plane
The area of operations covered by the
representative office in Sydney is Austra-
lia and New Zealand. For three years
now, Jos van Boxel has been the repre
sentative in Sydney where he is assisted
by Nadia Brugel (I) and Lisa Evans.
The Sydney office is the office which is
furthest away from the Rabobank Group's
home country. A visit from the Netherlands
means a twenty-four hour plane trip. From
the business viewpoint, the distance is
much less. There is close cooperation with
the Singapore Branch, seven hours away
by plane, and the branches in Hong Kong
and London, where many Australian
companies are represented.
In 1989 Rabolnvest Management
AG was set up in Zurich, Switzerland.
The aim is to advise private customers
on the management of larger capital
amounts. Until 1989, the Rabobank
Group played only a limited role in this
field, but with the expansion of the
international network it proved that
there was also a need to provide serv
ices for this group of customers.
Rabolnvest plays an important part in
the international network with private
customers. Traditionally, the Rabobank
Group has many well-to-do private
In the course of the year, Cees Jansen
left the representative office in Milan and
handed over the management to Paul
Dekker. Jansen is now with the foreign
department of De Lage Landen.
Dekker was area manager in Utrecht until
September. His job in Milan is to prepare
for a cooperative activity in the form of a
strategie alliance with an Italian bank and
then to give content and guidance to this
alliance.
In the summer of 1991 Rabobank Neder
land took over a finance company from an
American bank in Italy. This choice was
prompted by practical considerations. The
banking world in Italy is very strictly
regulated. In terms of services, a finance
company is not very different from a bank,
but it is easier to set up.
individuals among its clientèle, but often
their capital is tied up in their own com
panies. Nevertheless, more and more
capital amounts are becoming available for
which optimum investment opportunities
must be sought. Switzerland is an excellent
location for the management of these
capital amounts. The country remains as
neutral as possible in international politics,
which has consequences for Switzerland's
financial position. Rabobank Nederland has
a Finance Company in Zurich, not a bank. It
was easier and less expensive to start in
this way. The snag is that while Rabolnvest
can accept deposits and grant credit it
cannot use the word 'bank' in its adver-
tising and is limited as regards its services
in the field of funds transfers. Flence the
name Rabolnvest Management AG. Floyte
Sillevis Smitt has been the general
manager of the branch since 1989 and
now has a team of nine. This small staff
specializes in the deposit business and
investment management. The main activity
is advising customers on capital mainte-
nance. In addition, it is also possible to have
portfolios managed with the purpose of
yielding steady or high returns.
The Rabobank Group has a
representative office in Indone-
sia since 1986. In recent years
it has proved that there is suffi
ciënt business potential to jus-
tify an addition to the bank's
presence there.
When the Indonesian govern-
ment introduced a policy of lib-
eralizing the financial markets
in 1989 and announced that
new bank licences would be
issued, Rabobank was one of
the first to take advantage of
this. A joint venture was set up together
with the Indonesian Bank Duta: PT Rabo
bank Duta Indonesia, with Rabobank
Nederland as major (85%) shareholder.
This is a fully-fledged bank which also has
facilities for participating in local funds
transfers. Basically, however, the bank
concentrates on business finance activities.
The bank is managed by Henk Adams. Last
September Rabobank Nederland took over
a leasing company from the ABN Amro
Bank, now called Rabo Finance Indonesia.
This operation is managed by Barney
Agerbeek and will concentrate on leasing
of equipment and machineries. Rabobank
Duta now has thirty employees on its staff.
