People
2 International
Operations in
development
Beating Fraud
Cash book special
Curacao - auommodating expansion
Cash Pooling
and Netting
ISSUE 24/13 DECEMBER 1993
The annual operations
managers' meeting was an
ideal opportunity to talk to
them about the changing role
of their departments as many
of the bank's foreign offices
become increasingly mature.
'I think there is a clear shift in the
way we approach operations,'
says Hong Kong's Cindy Kwong.
'And in Hong Kong's case, that is
expressed in the fact that we have
actually changed the name of the
department to Operations Ser
vices, with the emphasis on ser
vice.'
When offices are first establish-
ed, the main task of operations is
to ensure transactions are pro-
cessed and that everything is or-
ganized. 'Once you have got that
sorted out,' explains Antwerp's
Albert Coenen, 'you then begin
to insert more control into the
processes and go on to providing
more and more management in-
formation.' Curaqao's Efraim
Mansana agrees. 'When the pro
cessing is up and running
smoothly, you have the chance to
begin looking at the quality of the
information you are producing,
both for internal and cliënt use.'
As operations managers are re-
sponsible for building manage
ment and account management
information systems, and because
they have to establish the basis
on which further growth and ex-
pansion can take place, in more
mature offices they are increas
ingly part of the management
team. 'Our involvement at this
level is important,' reckons
Kwong, 'because we have a role
to play in making policies work.'
Some things may be changing for
operations managers, but others
remain the same. Asked what
qualities are needed in the job,
Zurich's Cathrin Rolli promptly
reeled off: 'flexibility, accounting
skills, organizational and improv-
izational talent, financial insight
and communication skills - and
I'm still working on that one,'
she laughed before heading
home to put them all into prac-
tice.
North America Thomas Stevens: joins the bank as vice
president on November 1. He will be based in Chicago as
manager once the office is established in that city.
He comes to Rabobank from Continental Bank.
As the bank becomes
increasingly dependent on
computer systems for payment
and information flows, the
potential incidence of illegal
entry and abuse of these
systems becomes a fact of life.
In the ongoing security
awareness program, socalled
'incidents' are the current in
focus.
The term 'incident' is broad. While
we all understand the basic con
cept, it is more difficult to pro
vide a clear-cut description of
what an incident actually is. This
is because it can take on a num-
ber of forms, but essentially it is
an event which can damage the
bank. And, in turn, this can range
ffom journalists getting hold of
confidential information to
hackers trying to access pay-
ments netsworks.
The bank has already had to deal
with a number of externally gen-
erated virusses and has had
warnings the main system would
be broken into. 'Through rapid
action we were able to prevent
that,' says Information Security
Officer, Jan Willem Slijper.
However, the threat remains and
the information security depart
ment hopes that the posters
which have also been sent out to
the foreign offices will make staff
alert to the possibility of 'in
cidents Speed is of the essence
in dealing with problems of this
kind, so the basic message is: if
you see or notice anything out of
the ordinary, report it immediat-
ely to your superiors. If necessa-
ry you can contact Utrecht:
Crisis Management and Fraud
Prevention +31 30 903333 or
Information Security Officer
CBS, Martin Beekelaar +31 30
903955.
In theory, cash pooling and
netting are two straight
forward cash management
instruments. In practice, there
appears to be a lot of
confusion around them. A new
English-language book by
Wilco Dado for Rabobank
outlines both techniques in a
clear, accessible fashion.
The book uses a fictional com-
pany and a number of real cliënt
cases to examine and explain the
two instruments. Cash pooling is
a technique whereby availahle
balances in current accounts are
combined to assist interest cal-
culation. Netting is used to offset
mutual claims and debts, chiefly
to settle intercompany payables
and receivables.
Cashpooling and netting is aim-
ed primarily at cash managers,
treasurers and financial services
advisors, but is eminently suit-
able as a cliënt gift or as a means
for account managers to gain in
sight into these two techniques.
Books can be ordered by calling
+31 40 347002 and quoting or
der number 0036. The book is
priced at NLG 22.50.
December 16 was a big day for the staff at Rabobank
Curacao. The office was finally on the move to new
premises which have been specially equipped to
accommodate not only a rapidly growing staff, but also
all the equipment needed for the bank's fast growing
operations throughout the Latin American region.
Although the office was established in 1978, it maintained a
fairly low profile until two years ago. Since then, it has grown
rapidly as Rabobank becomes increasingly involved in trade
and corporate finance, trust and private banking activities
throughout South America. In the coming months, Rabo-
band International will be focussing attention on this latest
development within what is arguably one of the most excit-
ing regions in the world. Keep watching this space...
