Foreign office
in focus-Germany
Dealing
with progress
New York takes
up corporate
challenge
International
appointments
Past and
present
Rabobank and Banco Popular
in Spanish joint venture
EC funding for
Indonesian project
Staff communication magazine
for the Rabobank Group
Rabobank Deutschland is
currently developing a unique
new approach to improving the
quality of service to clients.
Raboband International went
visiting to find out how it's done
in Frankfurt. See page 2.
For the first time ever, the
New York office was repre-
sented this year at the annual
3.5-mile corporate challenge
race. 'You don't actually win
anything,' says Rabobank or-
ganizer David Reisman, 'but it's
great publicity for the bank and
fun for the people who parti-
cipate.'
Congratulations to Jim Murphy
(fastest male finisher), Chris
Debler (top women's finisher),
Bill Bilbao, Michel de Konkoly
Thege, Michael Pizarro, Dick
Schulze, Chris Kortlandt and
Ejnar Knudsen.
Maus Barendrecht, formerly
general manager of the Madrid
and Montevideo offices, has
been appointed manager of the
foreign offices department.
Barendrecht took up his new
position on July 1.
Singapore has a new deputy
general manager designate.
Arjan den Fleijer will officially
join the Singapore office on
September 1 as DGM to both
the branch office and Rabo
bank Asia.
London's new head of the
banking division, which com-
prises the corporate finance
and banking departments,
Berend du Pon, began work on
July 1. Du Pon joins the bank
from NOMURA Ltd. where he
was executive director Mergers
and acquisitions.
In our ongoing series on the
bank's history, we look at the
role of Rabobank in developing
the Netherlands into one of the
world's biggest exporters of
agriproduce. See page 4.
July 1 was a big day in Dutch-Spanish banking relations.
Following a three-year strategie alliance, Rabobank and Banco
Popular announced the creation of a joint venture bank. Popular
Rabobank is the new name, and both banks hope it will live up
to it as it moves into the Spanish market. Above - Rabobank's
Frank Schreve (left) and Banco Popular president Javier Valls
Taberner sign the agreement.
The joint venture was seen by
both banks as a logical next
step in their cooperation. A
strategie alliance, signed in
1989, had been designed pri-
marily to serve the clients of
member banks with operations
in Spain, and vice versa. Con-
tinued growth of these activ-
ities is forecast for the coming
years, but the strategie alliance
service package consists
mainly of Standard banking pro-
ducts. The joint venture, which
will concentrate on wholesale
services, is seen as a way of
expanding products on offer in
Spain.
Banco Popular is one of the
most liquid banks in Spain. Es-
tablished in the late 19th cen-
tury, it is rated as Spain's fifth
bank but heads the list of the
country's smaller banks. 'This
is the first joint venture for agri-
business in Spain,' says Alfre-
do Jimenez-Millas, who has
been appointed joint general
manager along with Arnout van
Schelven, currently chief of the
representative office in Madrid.
The rep office will be absorbed
into Popular Rabobank, which
is a pure 50/50 venture with a
total share capital of five billion
pesetas or NLG 73 million.
Two of the bank's agri-re-
searchers are currently design-
ing financial engineering ser
vices as part of a larger feasibil-
ity study on coconut cream
powder for one of Rabobank
Duta's clients - PT Tigaraksa of
Indonesia. The study is jointly
financed by the company itself
and ECIP, the European Com-
munity's investment body.
The cliënt, PT Tigaraksa, is look
ing for international investment
for the development of this par-
ticular product and requires an
extensive feasibility study for
presentation to potential inves-
tors. The EC makes available
funding for studies of this kind to
companies and organizations in
the developing world. As official
agent for the ECIP, Rabobank
can be instrumental in negotiat-
ing these subsidies. For more in-
formation, contact Twan Geurts
on +31 30 901169.
Upgrading a dealing room is
the equivalent of a contracter's
nightmare, but an old button
telephone system and standing
room only for 17 staff meant
something had to give in Singa-
pore's treasury.
'This is probably the most com
plex part of a bank's building,'
says treasury chief Theo van
Koningsveld. 'But we had to do
something.' Theresa Prasad,
head of administration, had the
unenviable task of negotiating
with suppliers and working out
the new style dealer desks
which have been custom-builtfor
the department. The project
took five months to complete.
Tnstallation, or perhaps I should
say demolition, began after the
markets closed on Friday 28
May,' says Van Koningsveld,
'and the room was ready for use
after the Whitsun break on the
following Tuesday.' The dealers
are thrilled with the new digital
plasma screen telephone sys
tem. 'It works like clockwork,'
says Van Koningsveld, 'but
we're still in the process of dis
covering all the new features -
and that could take time.'
