Rabo
band Issue 10/January, 1992
F
Foreign
Offices Department:
the 'home front'
Renovation in
Antwerp now complete
Interpolis across the frontiers
Nedship Bank, Rabobank'
shipping specialist
The Foreign Offices Department (FOD)
reguiarly acts as host to employees from
the foreign offices visiting the Nether-
lands.
On one occasion that may be a group of
Treasury Managers, and the next time an
individual member of staff. The FOD's
main job is to draw up proposals relating
to the policy for setting up foreign offices.
The department investigates possibilities
for opening offices in countries where
Rabobank is not yet represented. As soon
as a proposal has been approved, the fu-
In Antwerp, Belgium, Rabobank België
has been carrying out an extensive reno-
vation in the past year. The central office,
which now has around sixty employees,
became too small. Shortly before that a
larger computer was installed and the en-
tire accounting system was converted.
In addition to the Antwerp head office,
Rabobank België has a Loan Production
Office in Brussels with a staff of five
people. When the Antwerp Branch
reopened a consultancy group was also
installed. Rabobank has always been an
organization which aims at mobilizing local
knowledge and promoting local involve-
ment. Rabobank België expects that this
consultancy group will be able to advise it
on developments in Belgium and that it will
act as a sounding board for its own views
and ideas. In this way the bank aims to add
extra emphasis to its involvement in the
developments in Belgium. Most of the
Rabobank Group's offices abroad are run
by a management team headed by a
general manager. Belgian bank legislation
lays down that the management must be
entrusted to a management committee
(photo). Another special feature is that the
Belgian Central Bank has its own room in
the Antwerp branch where the accountant
of the Central Bank can do his work. This
accountant is present in the bank much
more frequently than is normally the case
in other countries.
The Interpolis insurance company and
the Rabobank Group have worked to-
gether in the Netherlands for a long time
now. Many policies are sold through the
local Rabobanks. The liberalization of the
financial markets in Europe has made clo-
ser cooperation possible.
It was recently announced that Interpolis
is to join forces with AVCB, another large
cooperative insurance company. AVCB and
Interpolis are already active in conciuding
insurances abroad on an independent
basis. Foreign risks are also reinsured and
Interpolis aims to achieve a higher profile
in countries abroad. To insure foreign risks
it is already using international strategie
alliances such as the Agri Benefit Network.
That covers Austria, Belgium, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg,
The Netherlands, Sweden and Great
Britain. If risks cannot be insured through
an existing alliance, Interpolis nearly
always finds an appropriate solution in
conjunction with other foreign insurers.
ture general manager, together with one of
the FOD staff, goes into action to really get
the office off the ground. FOD ensures that
all kinds of aspects are checked out and
that preparations are made for decision-
making by the management of the Divi-
sion. Examples are accommodation and
the appointment of the office staff. Once
the new base is operational and the offi
cial opening is over, FOD stays in touch al-
most daily and arranges contacts with
other offices and the organization in the
Netherlands. In addition, the department
comments on the monthly reporting relat
ing to the balance sheet and the profit and
loss account, reports on the development
of all the foreign offices and branches
combined, and coordinates the annual
budgeting process as a whole.
Agro Lloyd Verzekeringsmaatschappij NV -
part of the Interpolis Group - coordinates
the cross-border indemnity insurances. The
Agro Lloyd acceptance department is the
contact point for international insurances.
In the coming years Interpolis, together
with the offices of Rabobank Nederland
and De Lage Landen, will give an
international dimension to the insurance
business with all its products. Interpolis
has its own office in Ireland, where the ex-
Rabobank Nederland employee Toon
Bullens (photo) is the manager.
^TTEtTERTmWSf
LjAPtrrfSW
The Nederlandse Scheeps-
hypotheek Bank, Nedship
Bank, is one of the few mort-
gage banks in the world
which specializes in ship
ping. It has been a subsi-
diary of Rabobank Neder
land since 1986.
Along with the Nedship
Bank in Rotterdam, Rabo
bank Nederland also took
over its representative
offices in Piraeus (Greece),
on Curapao and in New
York. Nedship was initially
set up at the end of the
last century to finance
Dutch shipbuilding and
Dutch shipowners. As a
result of the international
character of shipping and
the transfer of part of
the shipbuilding industry
from Western Europe to
the Far East, Nedship
gradually began opera-
ting on a more interna
tional basis. Over 65%
of the loan portfolio and
80% of the production
now involve foreign ship
owners.
With the opening of an
office in Rabobank Ne-
derland's Flong Kong
Branch in the course of
1992, Nedship will be
represented in the main
international shipping
centres.
