LSJ
Pand Issue 20/August 23, 1993
On the job
Positions of trust
deposits assistant Aukje Kung are in the
frontline when it comes to cliënt contacts.
Kunz, who is Dutch, believes that the of-
fice's size has done much to create the at-
mosphere of cooperation and team work
which is very much in evidence at the Stei-
nentischstrasse. The great thing about
working here is that you're a person with
your own input, and never just a number
punching a time-clock.' Although the private
banking team are the 'public faces' of
Rabobank Switzerland 'we couldn't function
without the whole team here,' reckons Kei-
Ier who is responsible for the stock market
and ForEx at Rabobank Switzerland. The
'whole team' sounds rather grand, yet the
Zurich office's total staff is no more than
12, including secretarial support and senior
investment advisor Pedro Butignole, who is
located in Sao Paulo. 'The essence of our
basic operation here - an intimate rela-
tionship with our clients - is reflected in the
size of our staff,' says operations manager,
Kathrin Rolli. 'Being small has a number of
distinct advantages,' she thinks. 'It keeps
you alert, because you never get into the rut
of simply repeating the same activities day-
in, day-out.
Back Office Rolli's back office team
currently comprises four staff - accountant
Alexandre Berner, administrator Michael Né-
meth and assistant Mike Zbinden - and will
be increased to five in September when a
second assistant joins Rabobank. Michael
Németh has been with the bank since 1989.
His first task was to set up an EDP system
so that the back office could become func-
tional. 'It was a tough time,' he says. 'We
were working 16 hours a day. But I enjoyed
it immensely. Having spent my whole career
at large banks, it was wonderful to be in at
the start of a new one on this market.'
Involvement The pace has slackened
somewhat - 16-hour days have have be
come 9 to 10-hour stints, but no one is
complaining. 'It's a question of total in
volvement,' Monica Krienbühl explains. 'It
may sound corny, but we really are like a
family here. As there are only 12 of us, we
all pitch in together because we have our
name to make here in Switzerland. And
when I look around at the office now, and I
see how far we have come since we started
in 1987, I sometimes can hardly believe it.
My first day on the job involved going out to
a local department store to buy pencils so I
could write down what needed to be done.
We now have other foreign banks who want
to set up here coming in to ask for advice on
how we did it. I can only say it took a lot of
motivation and determination to get into this
market and our banking licence means
we're here to stay.' As staff numbers in
creased, Krienbühl has become increasing-
ly involved with personnel, and with market
ing activities. She is assisted by 23-year old
Doris Nageli, who along with Mike Zbinden,
is Zurich's youngest employee. Both young
people hope to make a career with the
bank.
Target As receptionist and tele-
phonist, Nageli is the first point of contact
for both other Rabobankers world-wide and
clients. 'It's something you have to be
awareofallthetime,' she says. Itis notthat
wealthy people have to be pandered to, it is
more that discretion is a great part of what
private bankers do. 'Our main target groups
are in Europe, especially Benelux and Ger-
many, and in Latin America through our in
vestment advisor in Sao Paolo,' says Sille-
vis Smitt. 'But we also have an important
role to play for the other Rabobank offices.
We act as support for Singapore, Hong Kong
and Jakarta, all of whom require a lot of in-
formation on currency markets and the gen-
eral European situation, so our sense of
networking is very strong and committed.'
Rabobank Switzerland also provides invest
ment advice on a global scale. 'This is in line
with the basic tradition of Swiss banking,'
Habersaat agrees. 'Although the notion of
Switzerland probably evokes an image of
great wealth and prosperity, the country it-
self was quite poor for centuries. And we're
still a very small country, with a population
of under 7 million. In the past, what we had
to do was observe our richer neighbours and
then define behaviours that would help us
become more prosperous. This resulted in
a distinct work ethic, an outward-looking at
titude and a global orientation that we can
utilize in our approach to Switzerland's very
private kind of private banking.'
Private banking can be defined as the
provision of financial services to high net-
worth individuals who require tailored asset
and investment planning by a competent or-
ganization. Rabobank defines 'financial ser
vices' as consisting of three sectors - bank
services, investment advice and manage
ment, and trust activities. The first two are
relatively self-explanatory, but what do trust
activities involve? Rabobank Trust director
Thomas van Rijckevorsel explains.
'In the narrowest sense a trust company is
concerned with the administration and man
agement of entities for clients. The basic
reason for establishing a trust company is
because specific jurisdictions offer a num
ber of fiscal and legal benefits. If you take
Curacao as example (although Luxembourg,
the Channel Islands and, to some extent,
Switzerland offer similar opportunities), you
see that fiscal legislation makes the Dutch
Antilles an attractive proposition for estab
lishing companies there. These are then
managed by trust organizations.
'Fiscal planning is an essential part of to-
day's international business world and the
so-called "Antilies route" is a good illus-
tration of how companies or individuals can
apply differing national legislations when
structuringtheirfinances. Say a Flong Kong-
based company wants to get into the EC
market. In order to invest, it has to have
equity and perhaps finance. This then pro-
duces dividend and interest flows back to
the home country. These flows are subject
to EC source tax, but this can be managed
by using the so-cailed Antilles route. The
company concerned sets up an Antillean
company, which in turn creates a Dutch com
pany, and the latter makes the investment.
Fiscally, the Antiliean-based company wouid
fall under the Dutch-Antillean tax treaty
which, through historie links between the
Netherlands and the Antilles, offers distinct
advantages in terms of source taxation.
'The role of Rabobank Trust in a case like
this would be the initial establishment of the
company and further management and
monitoring of it. But we also buy and sell
companies for third parties, and manage
other business areas for our clients, always
seeking the best possible structure to suit
their circumstances.'
Picture story - the people behind the Zurich operation. Top (from left to right) Patric
Keiler, Monica Krienbühl, Mike Zbinden and Doris Nageli; below: Kathrin Rolli, Michael
Németh, and Keiler with Willem Jan Habersaat (unfortunately, Aukje Kunz was on
holiday).
