Fruit lor thought Sydney celebration
Holland
Staff communication magazine for the Rabo
10 percent growth
for Rabobank
Looking
ahead
Van Slingelandt
appointed
CBS board
chairman
in BRIEF
Dedine in crime
Rabo Top 40 hits
the roaa
TV award for De Lage Landen
Dutch Rail (NS) chooses
Rabobank as housebanker
ISSUE 27/21 MARCH 1994
The 1993 results show the
bank has produced a consider-
able improvement in perform
ance over the past year. More
figures on page 4.
Tunisia will be the focus of a
so-called 'country day' in
Utrecht on April 7.
Rabobank Utrecht hosts an
informative presentation on
Poland in cooperation with
EuroPartenariat on April 15.
Chairman Herman Wijffels
will officially open the new
Curacao office in May.
Raibo do Brasil celebrates 5
years of operations on May 10.
The agri-trade account
managers meeting has been
slated for 11 September.
GM Chris Abbenhuis describes
the opening festivities as an un-
qualified success. 'A new bank is
something of a rarity here at the
moment,' he says. 'In the late
1980s, Australia was hard hit by
recession and a lot of the foreign
banks which had started up here
in 1986/87 pulled out. I believe
we are the first foreign bank to
set up merchant bank activities
for quite a few years, so we were
assured of a lot of attention.'
Around 150 clients, prospects,
bankers and government offi
cials attended the opening cel-
ebrations. This type of event is
an excellent opportunity to de-
monstrate respect for the coun
try the bank will be operating in.
Australia is now on its way out of
recession. 'The country is really
moving,' confirms Abbenhuis,
'there's clear, increased econ
omie growth, we're seeing real im-
provements in consumer confi-
dence and more investment. But
as a bank, we've always been op-
timistic about the food and agri-
business sector here. It repre-
sents a large part of the Austra-
lian economy, and exports to the
The World Fruit Conference
held in Rotterdam on March
10 proved a truly global affair.
See page 3.
The new Australian merchant bank operation was launched
officially in February and attracted considerable interest from
the commercial, banking and ministerial communities in both
Melbourne and Sydney.
International division chief
Rik van Slingelandt took over
from Frank Schreve as CBS
board chairman on March 1.
On his new responsibilities,
Van Slingelandt says his aim is
to 'further the goals of the
board. These are the creation
of a strong and entrepeneurial
environment for a harmonious
development of the bank's
wholesale activities.'
In 1993, the number of robberies
at Dutch banks feil by 13.7 per
cent. Rabobank did even better
with a no less than a 33.6 percent
fall in robberies fforn 131 in 1992
to 86 last year.
The success of the Rabobank
sponsored weekly radio Top 40
program has led to the introduc-
tion of a Rabo Roadshow. From
May, member banks can book
the show which offers four hours
of entertainment. Although
aimed primarily at teenyboppers
(12 to 18-year olds), the show
also includes music and games
for every age group.
rest of South-east Asia are con-
tinuing to grow rapidly. So we
came in cautiously but solidly,
for which Jos van Boxel deserves
great credit, and now we're ready
to bring the full range of Rabo
bank products to this extremely
exciting market.'
Over the past few months, the
bank has expanded its staff from
the initial three that worked in
the Sydney rep office to the cur-
rent ten. The new personnel
cover increased account man
agement activity, treasury and
structured trade finance. David
De Carli and Lisa Evans are in
account management. Mike
O'Connell he das up Structured
Trade Finance and Andrew
Quoyle is our Treasurer. David
Owen heads our Operations and
also Director of our entity. Apart
from David we have Terry
Thompson and Lorna Clark in
our Operations group. Last but
not least our two secretaries,
Grace Versace and Lyn Kierulf.
In the coming months we will see
some additional staff coming on
board in trde finance, account
management and treasury.
A TV commercial earned De
Lage Landen a bronze medal
from the 1993 International
Television and Cinema Advertis-
ing Award Competition held in
New York.
The bank has signed an in-house
bank contract with the Dutch
railways which was privatized at
the beginning of this year. The
NS now comprises a group of
independent companies with
special responsibilities, ie. pas
senger services and freight trans
port. Rabobank will be provid-
ing banking services to the whole
group.
