People
2 International
4
Opening for
business
Popular Rabobank enters
the Spanish market
ISSUE 27/21 MARCH 1994
North America The New York
treasury department has two new
vice presidents. Alfredo Gutier-
rez has been appointed VP and
foreign exchange dealer. He
comes to the bank from Giro
credit Bank and will be reporting
to Richard Zeltmann. Ellen Fahey
Smith also joins the foreign
exchange section of the Treasury
Department. Most recently, she
was a corporate foreign exchange
dealer with ABN/AMRO in New
York.
Utrecht The foreign offices de-
partment's secretariat has a
number of new faces - Blanche
Wijsenbeek, Corrie Zwerzerij-
Nota grey suit in sight -
we're taking this opportun-
ity to spotlight the interna
tional division's frontline
staff. Pictured here is inter
national's f uil complement
of secretaries.
ner and Anja Pater. Gert Jan van
de Brink joins the department to
define and streamline manage
ment information systems. Alex
Blok worked in Singapore for
some years before relocating to
Utrecht to oversee implemen-
tation of software systems. Ruud
Peeters has been appointed
management trainee.
In the coming months, two
Rabobank representative
offices will be opening for
business. Ronald Blok of the
new Chile operation and Klaas
Evert Engelse who will be
based in Malaysia explain
what setting up an office
involves.
'Getting a new office up and run
ning is a tough proposition.'says
Blok, 'even though we may be
well known on the market we're
going into. If I look at Chile, then
I can say we have a lot of great
contacts there, especially with
and through our cooperation
with Banco Bice. The people
there are extremely helpfiil and
that makes getting started a lot
easier. But that's not the whole
picture.'
Blok and his wife will be leaving
for Santiago in a couple of weeks.
'We have actually found a
house,' he says, 'but we still don't
have a telephone, so I can't give
you a number yet.' During the
initial phase of start-up, Blok will
be operating out of his house. 'I
know a lot of people who started
offices working from hotel
rooms. But that was in the early
days of the international
division. We now try to get the
accommodation sorted out be
fore we actually start work, even
though it may be from your own
home initially.'
Chile is an important agri-
market. It is already the biggest
fruit exporter in the southern
hemisphere and other growth
The joint-venture wholesale bank launched last year by
Banco Popular and Rabobank has completed its
preparatory phase and is now fully operational.
Rabobank has its own offices in most of the major European
agri-producing countries. One exception is Spain, where for
some years the bank was closely involved with strategie al-
liance partner Banco Popular. The cooperation between the
two banks ultimately led to the establishment of a joint ven
ture which could combine their two areas of expertise - BP's
indepth knowledge of the Spanish market, and Rabobank's
know-how in the agribusiness field.
Says Cor Broekhuyse, who recently attended Popular Rabo
bank's first official board meeting: 'We opted for this con
struction in Spain because we have no office of our own there.
However, Spain is an important potential wholesale market
and we also wanted to service our Dutch and international
clients who operate on that market.'
The jv already employs 15 staff and is now fully operational.
The official opening is slated for September when, says Broek
huyse, the jv will have had a chance to enter the market and
establish itself as a real agri-presence there.
areas are fishmeal and salmon.
'It's a very promising market for
the bank,' says Blok. 'and doing
business there is a pleasure. The
Chileans are very correct, and if
they say yes, they mean yes.'
The bank's approach to Chile has
been determined in part by this
business climate. 'We actually
began fïnancing companies there
quite quickly, which is not nor-
mal policy if we do not have a lo-
cal presence,' Blok confirms.
'This was because much of their
fruit export comes through Rot
terdam and we know the people
they are dealing with there, so
this created an additional sense
of trust.' The bank has been in
volved in trade fmance in Chile
for the past two years and the
time is now ripe for expanded ac-
tivity through a Rabo-presence
there.
In some respects, Engelse's ex-
perience will be rather different
from Blok's. 'Although I'll be
starting with a modest export
portfolio currently based on
Singapore, and with a reasonable
network of contacts we've built
up over the past three years, Ma
laysia is relatively virgin territory
for the bank. It's true that the top
exporting companies know us,
usually because they have offices
in Singapore and we're well
established there, but there's still
a lot of potential we haven't yet
had a chance to tap.'
At present, Rabobank is looking
for a cooperative agreement with
a local Malaysian bank. 'This is
essential,' says Engelse, 'because
the Central Bank keeps a tight
rein on foreign banks' activities.
Borrowers and foreign banks
need permission from the Cen
tral Bank for each off-shore
funding transaction. So its
extremely important to work
closely with a reputable local
bank if you want to have more
room to expand the type of activ
ities you can engage in.'
The Malaysian economy is cur
rently booming, accountancy
practices are sound and there
are very acceptable risk levels
there. Malaysia's main exports
are palm oil, rubber, tea and co-
cao. Imports are rice dairy and
sugar. 'In fact, it's an ideal
market for a bank with our kind
of expertise,' confirms Engelse.
'Government policy is also
aimed at stimulating agribusi
ness activity, an area which has
been rather neglected by other
banks there. So it's a good time
for us to get into the market.'
